Maine Turnpike going to the dogs - artwise

Maine Turnpike has chosen William Wegman, the artist who has made fame and fortune from silly but charming dog pictures to be their illustrator. Some kinds of doggery is going to be on display in three huge murals the Turnpike is buying for $102k.

The Wegman dog murals will be on the walls of the service plazas each direction at Kennebunk and at a new service plaza in West Gardiner presently under construction.

One is described as 5ft high by 22ft long (1.5m x 6.7m).

Wegman was selected from 50 bidders for the project. His art will consist of so-far-secret original works. But they will have multiple dogs in some kind of Maine setting. This report is adorned with well-known Wegman pieces.

CEO Paul Violette says the Turnpike embarked on the art project as a way of bringing art to travelers, hoping it will get more motorists to stop off at the service plazas and buy meals and make other purchases rather than fly by. And the hope is they will go away having enjoyed the pictures and with a higher opinion of Maine and its Turnpike.

Wegman, 64, was born and grew up in Boston, worked and taught in Wisconsin and Los Angeles, but has lived in Manhattan since 1973. He works out of a converted schoolhouse in Chelsea NYC.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-04-27