FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 21, 2015
Contact: Kristen Muszynski, 626-8404

New art installation unveiled at Cultural Building

Image of art in Cultural Building titled "Home"
"Home" by Maine artist Elizabeth Busch, was formally unveiled today, Sept. 21, at the Cultural Building in Augusta.

Image of James Ritter, Julie Richard, Shiela McDonald, David Cheever and Julie Horn

From left: State Librarian Jamie Ritter; Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission Julie Richard; Maine State Museum Assistant Director Sheila McDonald; artist Elizabeth Busch, Maine State Archivist David Cheever and Julie Horn, visual arts director with the Maine Arts Commission.
               
AUGUSTA ? Representatives of Maine?s cultural agencies and the Maine Arts Commission gathered Monday afternoon to celebrate the unveiling of a new art installation in the Cultural Building atrium.

?Home,? by Maine artist Elizabeth A. Busch, of Glenburn, (www.elizabethbusch.com) is now on display for the public to view when entering the Maine State Library, Archives or Museum.  Busch?s work is a series of nine abstract tapestry panels depicting scenes of Maine, from the potato fields to the coast. 

?For me and ?Home,? Maine is my home,? explained the artist. ?I wasn?t born here? but this is where my heart is. I?ve been supported by the people, by the landscape, by the love that surrounds me on a regular basis, by the artwork that I do.?

?Home? is a second-generation Percent For Art project for the Cultural Building, replacing the original work commissioned from Busch in 1990, which was also displayed in the atrium. That piece was replaced for the past several years by a Civil War garrison flag replica on loan from the Pejepscot Historical Society, in celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. The flag was lowered in a ceremonial folding last week and returned to the society.

Maine?s Percent for Art law, instituted in 1979, allocates funding for the state to commission public art works for state buildings. 

?There are few states in the country that actually have a statewide Percent for Art law,? said Maine Arts Commission Director Julie Richard, ?so we?re actually really lucky here in Maine.?

?We?re very pleased with the work, it?s beautiful and right for our space,? said Maine State Librarian James Ritter, who coordinated with Maine State Archivist David Cheever to commission the work. ?All of us recognize, in the work that we do ? whether it?s written word or performing arts or visual arts ? that art in our community makes our community stronger and it underscores the importance in our culture of who we are as a people.?

Visit the Maine State Archives Facebook page for additional photographs of ?Home? and the unveiling ceremony.