UPDATE AND CORRECTION: Andy Goldsworthy’s “Road Line” Almost Complete
Jesup Turns 112 and other library news.
Update and correction. Many thanks to Michael Dorfman for his assistance with this. We’ve also added additional photos. We also fixed a tense issue! Whew. Many apologies for the errors.
BAR HARBOR—Workers placed the last piece of the roadside section of Andy Goldsworthy’s “Road Line” Friday afternoon at the College of the Atlantic, just before the official beginning of Labor Day weekend.
The installation was anonymously funded by two donors, and it’s the English artist’s first Maine project. This week, during the installation, a lane was occasionally blocked on Route 3 (Eden Street) as the 1,500-foot-long cut granite curving piece’s end pieces were placed closer to the road. The art sculpture is a permanent installation and runs from Eden Street’s curb to Frenchman’s Bay, cutting across the campus. The granite was quarried from various New England sites.
According to a press release from May, the “two anonymous donors who are passionate about the piece’s potential to intersect the study of human ecology and to create a world-class work of public art in Downeast Maine, Road Line will be an expression of human and geological movement.”
“Road Line would only become apparent as an artwork after it has left the ‘straight and narrow’ and goes its own way,” Goldsworthy said of the piece upon proposal. “I hope this will resonate with the students who will also pass through the college on their own journeys and that, wherever life takes them afterwards, they will always be reminded of their time in Maine whenever they see a curbstone. It would be the antithesis of the definition of curb, which is to control or limit.”
In addition to Goldsworthy’s time on campus for installation, he took part in the COA Summer Institute: Reimagining Exploration, July 31-August 4, held in collaboration with The National Geographic Society. Goldsworthy will be in conversation with Courtney J. Martin, PhD, Paul Mellon Director of the Yale Center for British Art. For more information, visit coa.edu/summerinstitute.
College of the Atlantic’s Devin Connor ’12 was the project’s chief mason. He owns D. Garden Artisans in Trenton.
According to the COA website, “Goldsworthy documents his explorations of the effects of time, the relationship between humans and their natural surroundings, and the beauty in loss and regeneration in photographs, sculptures, installations, and films.”
One of Goldsworthy’s earliest pieces, “Stones sinking in sand, Morecambe Bay, Lancashire,” also has stones reaching across a landscape, though this piece is more of a straight line and created by smaller stones stretching into the water. His “Walking Wall” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has a similar snaking effect as “Road Line.”
That installation was created with the help of British dry stone wallers, much like the COA installation which was created with the help of Connor as well as Masons Connor, Michael Dewey, Alexa Kelley, and Caleb Davis and Dawson Burnett of Songscape Gardens. Goldsworthy told the Mount Desert Islander’s Piper Curtin that “Road Line” is a connection of his other East Coast pieces as he extends north.
Guided tours of Road Line led by COA President Darron Collins ’92 are held on Thursdays at 11 a.m. Tours will gather at The Whale Skull, along the main entrance to campus. Please contact advancement@coa.edu if interested in a tour.
Visit Andy Goldsworthy’s website to learn more about his work.
JESUP HAS A BIRTHDAY
According to the library,
“On August 30th, 1911, the Jesup Memorial Library was officially dedicated; from founder George B. Dorr's account, ‘The meeting, held in the Reading Room of the completed Library, passed off with great distinction. Judge Deasy’s speech of acceptance on the Town’s behalf was admirable and eloquent and the gift was received with enthusiasm and Mrs. Jesup was well content.’"
Also, according to the library, its summer reading program was a staggering, buzz-worthy success,
“We'd like to applaud every young reader who participated in the 2023 Summer Reading Program: All Together Now: Bee Kind! Over 470 people attended Bee Kind events, and a total of 1,177 people attended youth programs this summer.
'“Bee A Reader Bingo returned for its second year to much excitement and many new favorite books were discovered. We partnered with 10 wonderful organizations to bring music, art-making, theater and more to the library every week this summer, and with 12 local businesses to encourage random acts of kindness. Thank you to all of our community partners.
“With the conclusion of summer reading, please don't forget that youth and family programs are happening at the Jesup all year long!”
The library also raised more than $12,000 during its annual book sale.
Unless otherwise specified, photos by Shaun Farrar
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