Look Up: Umbrella Art Installation Gets Approved By Bangor City Council
In an attempt to draw people into areas of Downtown Bangor that some in the city feel are often overlooked, the Bangor City Council, this week, approved the idea of installing multiple multi-colored umbrellas that connect between buildings on Main Street and Colombia Street, via Cross Street.
"Umbrella Sky", Bangor's display would be part of a larger, international art piece with installations in other cities across the globe.
Betsy Lundy, Executive Director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership, said this project, which was inspired by "Mary Poppins" has been three years in the making.
Lundy says Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center is helping to fund the project.
"The Umbrella Sky Project was inspired by Mary Poppins and seeks to, “bring life and protection to public spaces, while at the same time, inspire and transport us to a world of fantasy.” Hosting Umbrella Sky in downtown Bangor will place Bangor on a map of international locations including Bahrain, Portugal and France and be an economic driver drawing visitors from Main Street to Columbia Street, enhancing and encouraging the pedestrian experience. There is no doubt that our youngest visitors to the Maine Discovery Museum will enjoy the whimsical display."
According to the Bangor Daily News, the art installation "was created by Portuguese art company Impactplan, and first appeared in Portugal in 2012."
The plan, according to the proposal, is to attach the display using steel cables that will hook into mounts secured to the buildings which line the road. They'll be put up in the summer and taken down in the fall.
The proposal includes the addition of some upside-down umbrella benches to be placed along the path surrounding the installation, as well.
Now that the City Council has given the green light, the work can be done to set up the installation, which folks could see go up as soon as the end of the month.
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