KENNEBUNK – Whether it is the Atlantic Ocean or Kennebunk River, 200 years ago or today, the water plays a significant role in the lives of Kennebunkers.

Boatbuilders, lobster fishermen, sailors, clam diggers and  whale watch boat operators depend on it. Others enjoy its scent and how the water changes with the weather.

So, it isn’t surprising, perhaps, that each of the four banners hung last week throughout Kennebunk – all designed and painted by Kennebunk High School students to help mark the town’s 200th birthday – include the sea or river as design elements.

Students whose banners were chosen for display include juniors Anela McMichael, Garrett Erickson-Harris, senior Taylor Creech and Linnea Sullivan, a senior at KHS when the project began a year ago, and now a graphic design student at the Pratt Institute in New York.

The banner project began with a call from the Kennebunk Bicentennial Committee, which offered a competition to KHS art students, explained art teacher Katie Mooney.

“Students researched books from our school library that were specific to Kennebunk and its historical background and industries,” said Mooney. ” Students were then able to choose their medium and create an original artwork for this project. All 30 or so submissions were amazing. The committee chose four out of the group, and I believe the four chosen do a great job of capturing a variety of what Kennebunk is about. ”

The Kennebunk Select Board took note of the bicentennial banners at a recent meeting and thanked all who had taken part.

“We thank them for beautifying our town and helping us celebrate our 200th anniversary,” said select board chairman Blake Baldwin.

There are images of boats on the ocean, the seabed, sailboats, and the bridge over the Kennebunk River that joins Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

Creech, 17, a senior who said she was raised creating art with her mother, designed the bridge banner that includes a directional sign marked with words like water, people, love, fun, happy, sun and the like.

The inspiration for the sign came from one she saw nearby.

“I wanted to put words on each board that helped represent the town of Kennebunk,” Creech said.

She said the inspiration for her piece came from the bridge.

” You can see the beautiful boats on one side and the sunset on the other,” she said.  “So I wanted to incorporate that into (my banner) with the sunset a bit. There was a lot of detail to go into it but it was worth it. I was actually very proud with how it turned out; I was hoping everything together didn’t seem too crowded but it worked out in the end. My favorite part about it has to be the big sign.”

Also, among the banners is Sullivan’s work of sailboats on the water.

“I live by the ocean, and always see the small sailboats out on the Kennebunk River, the kids on them taking lessons just like I did when I was younger,” said Sullivan. “These boats, and the hundreds of others, have cemented themselves as a staple of Kennebunk for me and many others. This inspired me to make my slightly simplistic design of the orange sailboats on the ocean in Photoshop during my senior year of high school in 2018 and 2019 … It’s incredibly gratifying to see my art being used to celebrate Kennebunk’s 200th Bicentennial.”

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