BOWDOINHAM

A lesson on public art is also giving

Bowdoinham children a personal connection with one of the town’s newest attractions.

A mural for the town’s skate park is expected to be installed in the next month, featuring the work of Bowdoinham Community School students. In the fall, the school’s art classes dedicated instruction to the creation of the mural.

“At the heart of what we are is a community school,” said visual arts teacher Karen Goetting. “The best way to incorporate all children was during school hours.”

Each student in the elementary school was provided a two-foot piece of wood carved into the shape of a skateboard. The students were allowed to add two colors to the design of their board. The pieces will be installed as a mural on the surrounding fence to the skate park.

“It was a great jumping off point to talk about public art,” said Goetting. “It gave the students a chance to express who they are.”

The skate park was completed last summer, with its dedication taking place in September 2017.

Much like planning of the park itself, the mural had been in the works for a while. It also represented community collaboration, done by the school in partnership with the Merrymeeting Arts Center.

The Arts Center’s Lee Parker came up with the vision, and local artists Jane Page-Conway and Manon Whittlesey helped implement the project. A 2017 grant from the Maine Humanities Council

And the mural is just one more connection between the skate park and the school, the latter which has offered skateboarding as part of its Monday elective program. With every student taking part in the mural project, there is a definite bond.

“It gives them ownership in the skate park,” said Goetting. “In the future when they go to the park they will always have a piece of it.”

At the heart of the project, she said, it is about more than just making art and creating a colorful “skateboard.” The project, Goetting said, will give students an idea of how they can impact the environment around them. She’s hopeful they realize the influence they can have when working together.

“I think once they see it,” Goetting said, “that they’re one of 170 but you can feel like you’re a community.”

The mural will be the latest addition to the park that had been a longtime goal in Bowdoinham. Located at 6 Main St. near Mailley Waterfront Park, the Matthew Townsend Memorial Skate Park is named for an avid skateboard who didn’t have a good place to skate and would often do so on Main Street. Parker died suddenly in 2005 of encephalitis at the age of 15.

At the time of his death, donations came in to build the skate park in his memory, but they weren’t enough to build a sustainable one. Additional fundraising efforts in recent years helped bring it to life, providing skateboarders a safe place to have fun in Bowdoinham.

The park

• THE MURAL will be the latest addition to the park that had been a longtime goal in Bowdoinham. Located at 6 Main St. near Mailley Waterfront Park, the Matthew Townsend Memorial Skate Park is named for an avid skateboard who didn’t have a good place to skate and would often do so on Main Street. Parker died in 2005 of encephalitis at the age of 15.

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