by Peggy DePersia, Guest Blogger
Scaffolding generally gives me pause. I sometimes stop and evaluate whether I want to walk under, through or around it.
Or, should I cross the street and avoid it altogether. Often, I stop, especially if there are layers and layers of it, to try and figure out what it going on…is it maintenance, restoration, reconstruction or renovation? Just what is going on? Yet, it is a clear sign that something is happening with or on the structure cloaked by tiers of scaffolding. And, what about the many workers hustling here and there in their brightly and uniformly colored vests…”the better to see you with my dear”.
The ‘port’ in Portland, as you might imagine, is the historic area of the city with interestingly detailed red brick buildings of yesteryear parading along brick and cobble stone streets within striking distance of the busy, sometimes fog bound port with small craft and larger scaled boats protected therein.
The ‘port’ area is a happening place with all kinds of events, activities and steadfast venues to appeal to new and old comers alike. If you like to shop, there are any number of boutiques, novelty stores, gift shops, galleries and smaller scaled groovy national chains to catch your wandering eye.
If you like to ‘vacation eat’, Portland has become a bit of a ‘foodie’ haven with numerous restaurants and bars appealing to fans of new age cuisine, craft cocktail emporiums (truly) and the like.
If you like to ‘tour’, you can do it by foot and specialized bus tours: no problem.
If you like to visit, you’ll want to put the Portland Museum of Art at the top or your list. Maine manifests such a sense of place and no where is it more evident than in its art museums. Maine landscapes, seascapes and fishing scenes line museum walls in abundance and often with images of high drama.
With artists such as Whistler, Winslow Homer, and the Wyeths (all three of them), the Maine aesthetic is well represented. Even with the more modern artists like Alex Katz and Louise Nevelson, the hearty Maine identity seems evident, if more abstractly.
Peggy is a retired art instructor who loves to explore the connections between art and life, particularly with her camera toting sidekick, her husband.
