by Chris Cart | American
No mural is complete without at least one dog. This mural has three #119. Alan Stearns and Austin Brown of Hallowell were very generous donors to the mural project. Three Airedales are included in the mural. At left are Rosie and Fergus running with the young man.
Rosie, Fergus, Rufus and now Ace have been great dogs and wonderful, just up the hill neighbors.
artist, Chris Cart
Below is Fergus, waiting patiently as the artist painted his portrait in the mural.
The Hallowell Mural is a publicly funded mural with over 100 generous donors who helped buy the paint, canvas, varnish and keep the artist going over the years of work. Begun in 2018 as an idea over dinner, the mural was finally installed at 89 Water Street, Hallowell, Maine in the summer of 2023 with great fanfare and a celebration with our Mayor George Lapointe, Representative Dan Shagoury and Maine’s Governor Janet Mills all giving talks.
We couldn’t do it without our Sponsors. Thank you!
Grants by:
Maine Arts Commission
Maine Community Foundation
Elsie & William Viles Foundation
Kennebec Savings Bank
Other organization sponsors:
Vision Hallowell
Row House Inc
Ian Parker Foundation
Arts & Cultural Committee
Hallowell Board Area of Trade
The Maine Industrial School for Girls or the State School for Girls in Hallowell became commonly called the Stevens School after Lillian Ames Stevens #113 who was a staunch supporter of the school and one of the first 5 trustees in 1885. The school functioned from 1875 to 1920.
While by today’s standards the treatment of the girls might be considered harsh, at the time of its creation the school was considered progressive and a big step forward in its kindness toward “wayward girls”.
The stated purpose of the school:
“. . .designed as a refuge for girls between the ages of seven and fifteen years, who, by force of circumstances or associations, are in manifest danger of becoming outcasts of society. It is not a place of punishment, to which its inmates are sent as criminals by criminal process– but a home for the friendless, neglected and vagrant children of the State, where under the genial influences of kind treatment and physical and moral training, they may be won back to ways of virtue and respectability, and fitted for positions of honorable self support and lives of usefulness.”
The little bronze “water girl”, #113, as she is know was originally dedicated in honor of Lillian Ames Stevens. I visually quote it here as a way to remember Stevens’ part in what we now call Stevens Commons in Hallowell.
artist, Chris Cart
The various brick buildings of Stevens Commons were once part of the Maine Industrial School for Girls or Stevens School and the entire campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The old brick buildings of the original campus have now been beautifully restored by Mastway Development, LLC of Winthrop, Maine and are currently used by local business and dormitories for students of University of Maine, Augusta.
The bronze statue of the “water girl” can now be seen in entrance of the Portland Public Library.
The Ian Parker Foundation #94 was set up in memory of much beloved Hallowell musician Ian Parker.
The Ian Parker Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and gifts to it are fully tax deductible. The Foundation supports local live music, musicians and music students.
The Ian Parker Foundation gave a generous grant to support the mural.
artist, Chris Cart
Ian William Parker (Oct. 5, 1983-Feb. 28, 2011)at his home in Machias. He was a musician, beginning his career performing as a solo artist throughout the state of Maine, and was an integral vocalist/ guitarist in various bands including the popular bands “Rumble Strip” and “The Returnables.” Ian was also a recording session musician and played on recordings for numerous talented Maine artists.
There are far too many musicians known in Hallowell to count let alone include on one small section of wall. But music is central to Hallowell’s daily life with our musicians playing at restaurants, bars and our annual festivals.
it would have required several walls this size to do justice to all the musicians who play in Hallowell. These musicians will have to stand in for all the rest.
artist, Chris Cart
Marcia Gallagher, #80, has gigged in rock bands, soul bands, and with jazz combos. She performs solo as a keyboard/vocalist in her hometown of Hallowell and environs. She has been an accompanist, organist, and musical director for theater groups around the region.
With a career that spans over 40 years, Pat has worked as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and teacher.
Alfred Lund, #81, is a percussionist who gigs with many Maine bands. He creates his own instruments from his custom cajon made from a Klipsch speaker box to ashiko drums fashioned from local woods.
Dave Wakefield, #82, sax, harmonica, plays with many of the best Maine bands.
Steve Vellani, #83, started playing in the Gardiner Common as a teenager. He spent time playing bluegrass mandolin and guitar in Cape Cod before moving to California to launch his first band, Walking Wounded. Then time playing in Cambridge and Sonoma Valley and back to the Cape, finally settling in Hallowell in the ’80’s wiht his wife Barbara to raise their family.
He and Jeff Farnsworth started the the well-known Weasles, then later Vellani launched the Rolling Blackouts, and began the long time tradition of “Hallowell does…” concerts, Hallowell does Neil Young, Hallowell does Tom Petty…
And as he says, “all along playing solos and duos, and really with whoever will have me.” And plans to continue until the fingers no longer do it.
Pat Pepin #84, is a distinguished Maine-based artist known for her exceptional skills as a singer and saxophonist. Her shows are filled with a diverse selection of songs, from blues to Americana, along with her clever original compositions.
Christine Poulson #85, returned to Maine in 2008 and has been active in the local scene since then, covering genres from Americana to jazz. Poulson is mostly known for her rich alto voice, her infectious spirit, and her love of gathering people for common causes.
Sarah Crosby, #86, member of the Whitefields Band and plays rhythm guitar at venues around New England.
Katie Daggett,#87, a singer, songwriter and Maine native known for her “unique blend of adult contemporary” music.
Bob Colwell #88, is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and co-founder of the renowned Boneheads. Bob earns his living completely from music. He operates a busy recording studio called “The Root Cellar” in Hallowell, doing gigs around the state with various bands for over 40 years. Married to Cary Colwell.
Josh Shain #89, well-known member of the great Hallowell band Scolded Dogs.
Roger Sampson #90, landed in Hallowell, Maine in 1981, emigrating from it’s once sister city on the coast of Massachusetts, having followed what was left of the breadcrumb trail left behind after the Rolling Thunder Revue passed through town years earlier. Gratefully being adopted by the local music and arts community, he forged deep and lasting musical and personal relationships that continued to his death.
Naoto Kobayashi, #92, a beloved Hall-Dale teacher of Japanese and founder of the Hall-Dale Taiko drumming club.
Ian Parker, #94, a beloved local musician who died far too young. A foundation was set up in his name to help young musicians. Ian Parker Foundation.
Kenny Cox, #114, Maine musician all his life playing in any number of bands, Hole in the Wall Gang, the Band from Uncle, Neat & Clean… He is well remembered for his weekly winter gigs at Sugarloaf, and his Sunday afternoon “Kenny Church” at the Wharf in Hallowell.
Steve Jones, #79, plays electric and acoustic guitar and is one of Maine’s best known band leaders and musicians. He has toured regionally with The Boneheads, Strangefolk, and Dirigo among many others and been a backing musician for Bo Diddley, The Band’s Rick Danko, and The Marvelettes.
Scott Eliot, #96, one of the founding members of The Boneheads, one of Maine’s most respected musicians.
Brett Shain, #98, a lifelong musician and soloist in the legendary musical city of Hallowell, Maine.
Anne Mckee #4, is the young musician playing her violin up near the top of the mural.
She is an extraordinary violinist and a member of Bay Chamber Faculty, from Hallowell, Maine.
Anne was a part of the mural from the earliest sketches.
artist, Chris Cart
Why is she playing her violin sitting high on the projecting beam? I’m not sure, except that having her perched way up there somehow, to me, captured Hallowell’s spirit.
From Bay Chamber website:
“Anne McKee (violin) hails from Hallowell, ME where she began playing the violin at age four. She recently completed her Master of Music degree at Boston Conservatory under the tutelage of Dr. Katie Lansdale.
Some of her musical accolades include first prize in Midcoast Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition, second prize at Peter E. Tannenwald Young Artist Competition, and finalist in Boston Conservatory’s all-school concerto competition. In addition to long-term study with Betsy Kobayashi, Lydia Forbes, and Eva Gruesser, Anne has taken masterclasses with Sergiu Schwartz, Alexi Kenney, Grigory Kalinovsky, and Joseph Lin, as well as members of the Ying, Jupiter, Lydian, and Ariel Quartets. She has enjoyed attending Bowdoin International Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Promisek Bach+ Workshop, and Harvard Music Festival.
Most recently, Anne was invited to perform at Music From Salem (NY) as one of two Emerging Artists in their summer concert series.”
The Vaughan Stream, located in Hallowell, Maine, was owned by the Vaughan Family.
At various times there were three dams on the Vaughan Stream generating power for various mills. One of the dams was the Wire Mill dam, which was located a few feet above what is now the now large stone arch bridge.
The arch bridge was completed in 1930, replacing the wooden bridge that had been part of the Wire Mill dam.
The stone dam we still see today is the Stickney & Page dam constructed in 1871. It replaced a earthen dam that had been built in 1849. The Stickney & Pages dam created Cascade Pond, a reservoir to provide a more constant source of water power to the mills downstream when Vaughan stream was low. When the stream was dried up, the factories were then powered by steam engines.
The various mills on Vaughan stream powered by the dams used Penstock power turbines to generate the power for the millwork.
The river/stream in the mural is symbolic of either the Kennebec or Vaughan stream. It holds a central location in the mural to show their importance to early Hallowell.
artist, Chris Cart
The Milliken Sawmill used the energy from Vaughan steam and was located just south of the Fuller Foundry on Sheppard’s Point. The area became known as Milliken’s Crossing at the southern end of town.
There were 9 mills on Vaughan Stream over the years providing lumber, wire, flour, sandpaper, oil cloth, linseed oil and even the first electricity to Hallowell.
Ice was cut from Cascade Pond during the winter months, stored in a huge ice house at Sheppard’s Point, where Vaughan Stream meets the Kennebec, and then shipped down river to fill ice boxes in Boston and points south during the warmer months.
The Vaughan Woods, sometimes locally called Hobbitland, is a 160 acre preserve in Hallowell
Vaughan Woods is a popular trail system in the heart of historic Hallowell.
Designed for recreation and nature appreciation by the Vaughans in the early 1900s, classic stone bridges, picturesque waterfalls, and a wild meadow make these some of the most unique walking trails in Maine. Hundreds of visitors come to Vaughan Woods each day, a testament to its popularity. Nicknamed “Hobbitland” by local residents, it is a place of stunning beauty and natural wonder.
Owned and managed by the non-profit organization Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead, Vaughan Woods is protected by a conservation easement through The Kennebec Land Trust and contains approximately 3 miles of trails that vary in width and degree of difficulty for walking.
quoted from the Vaughan Homestead website.
I have spent countless hours walking and painting in these woods.
artist, Chris Cart
This is a painting I did years ago from the little brook next to the stone bridge near the big dam.
artist, Chris Cart
Sunday Walk depicts the Cart’s beloved Labrador Retriever running in the snow in the Maine woods. The original watercolor painting was included in art writer Carl Little’s book, “The Art of Maine in Winter” along with paintings by dozens of other Maine artists including Jamie Wyeth, Rockwell Kent and Winslow Homer.
The Wabanaki (Wôban-aki) #112 people have lived in the Kennebec valley, from the head waters to the sea, for over 13,000 years.
The Wabanaki nations include the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Abenaki. The term “Abenaki” has been wrongly used over the years to describe all the Wabanaki people. It is a mistranslation of the original Wôban-aki, meaning People of the Dawnland, the First Light or East, a term that refers to both the people and the land.
While not an original term describing a certain tribe of people, over the centuries “Abenaki” came into common usage describing native tribes from central Maine west as far as the Hudson River and Lake Champlain.
reference: The Wabanaki of the Kennebec
The Wabanaki I placed in the forefront of the mural in a relatively large area of canvas, out of respect, to show they were the first to live this land.
artist, Chris Cart
The Wabanaki communities identified themselves with the rivers they lived on or with the lands along that river. The word Kennebec derives from the original Kwenebek or /kínipekʷ/ meaning deep river.
There was a large Wabanaki gathering place known as Koussinok, meaning sacred place beside the rippling waters, just above the “head of tide” of the Kennebec at the small rapids in what is now Augusta. Wabanaki people would gather in Koussinok in the warm months to grow foods they would use throughout the year. This land was sacred to the Wabanaki of the area as it was where their ancestors had long been buried.
The Wabanaki traditionally have a deep kinship with the land, waters and other beings with whom they share the forests, hills and rivers.
The granite circle #99 represents the natural world that envelops us. Carved in the ring are animals, plants and trees symbolizing the world.
The large granite circle was part of the ealiest design sketches of the mural. I knew the mural would have a lot in it and I wanted a couple of large elements to contain the various details.
artist, Chris Cart
A detail of one section of the granite ring.
When I first painted the granite ring the diameter was 18 feet across but the width of the actual ring was only 9 inches. My wife Jen’s comment was it was too narrow. Over the 4 years of painting the width of that ring increased in width 4 or maybe five times, finally ending a 13 and a half inches. Jen was, of course, right.
artist, Chris Cart
On May 3rd, 1762 the first settlers of European descent #109 stepped ashore on the west bank of the Kennebec River, onto the wild lands that would become Hallowell, Maine. Deacon Pease Clark, his wife Abigail, their son Peter, with his wife Zeruah with their young daughter Phoebe, had traveled from Attleborough, Massachusetts, by boat, sailing up the Kennebec River until they came to our familiar bend in the river.
Local legend tells of the Clark’s first night where they had no shelter. The intrepid settlers passed the night under a rough cart they had brought with them, and turned upside-down for their first night’s roof.
The first efforts of the Clarks were devoted to making a small clearing and to the creation of a temporary dwelling. They planted corn and rye upon the burnt land. Before the snows of the following winter fell, these energetic first settlers had hewn timber, procured boards and planks from the mill at Cobbossee, and built a comfortable frame house of two stories in front and one at the rear, according to the fashion of the times; and ever after that, the hospitable doors of the Clark house stood open to welcome all newcomers to this locality.
excerpt from: Emma Huntington Nason, Old Hallowell on the Kennebec., 1909
Their riverfront lot measuring 50 rods wide (about 275 yards), encompassed the land around the current old Cotton Mill in Hallowell. The first woods they cleared for their home and farm is where the old Hallowell Fire department building is, at the corner of Second Street and Perley’s Lane—and incidentally, also where the artist created the mural prior to its installation.
The Clarks acquired land from Benjamin Hallowell, from whom the city gets its name. Benjamin Hallowell was one of four wealthy Boston merchants, the Kennebec Proprietors, who purchased large tracks along the Kennebec from the Plymouth Colony.
In 1629 the Plymouth Colony had been granted land originally claimed by the British monarchy.
Since 1628 Europeans of the Plymouth Colony had operated a small trading post about 2 miles further up river, (near Fort Western). They traded with the local Abenaki peoples until the late 1670’s.
At that point what became known as the “Indian Wars” dissuaded any serious settlement by Europeans or colonists in the Kennebec Valley for almost a century. The New England colonies fought the native people of the Wabanaki Confederacy (the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Penobscot, and Abenaki) who were allied with the French of New France over the rights to the lands.
The various land wars resulted in the the killing of so many native peoples that by the final treaty of the King George’s war in 1748 the battles were solely about French or English colonial rule in the area, with the New England colonies prevailing over the French.
