The public will be given two opportunities this month to offer feedback on a controversial art installation being proposed for Woodfords Corner in Portland.

Portland artist Aaron Stephan, who was chosen earlier this year by the Portland Public Art Committee to create a “cluster of lights” sculpture at the intersection, will present his design concepts at both public meetings.

His sculpture – the final design has not yet been chosen – will be installed on a plaza near the Odd Fellows Hall on Forest Avenue. It is part of the Woodfords Corner Transportation project, a project that will also include streetscape, traffic and stormwater improvements.

Members of the Art Committee believe the sculpture, which has received mixed reactions from the public and city councilors, will help transform the congested intersection into a more pleasant place to drive and walk through.

Jessica Grondin, a spokeswoman for the city, said the public sessions will be held Tuesday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m. at the Woodfords Club, 179 Woodford St., and Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 5 p.m. at the Portland Public Library.

Art committee members said the sculpture would be built with off-the-shelf street lamps. Stephan will be paid $20,000 to create the sculpture, and an additional $5,000 to install the piece. All of the funds would come from a surplus in the art committee’s budget.

At a City Council meeting in June, councilors said the sculpture, which will be modeled after publicly commissioned artwork Stephan has done in Lubbock, Texas and Farmington, has not been well received by constituents.

“The challenge with public art is always that it is public,” Councilor Edward Suslovic said during the June meeting. “The majority of my constituents were not very enthused by what they saw in the newspaper.”

Despite those reservations, councilors voted 6-3 to approve an order authorizing Stephan to create the sculpture.