MAINE PUBLIC • August 17, 2022
The city of Bangor has chosen a Wabanaki artist to create a piece of public art to cover up an exhaust pipe that’s part of the recently completed 3.8 million-gallon sewage overflow tank project on the waterfront. Steven Francis Hooke, an artist, welder, fabricator and member of the Mik’maq tribe, was chosen by Bangor’s commission on cultural development for the project, and the City Council’s business and economic development committee approved the choice Monday night. Hooke intends to create a 16-foot Wabanaki-style canoe out of steel, which will be affixed to a standalone, above-ground, 24-foot-tall stack and exhaust pipe, which allows for the release of gasses that might accumulate in the tank below. The city will award Hooke a $10,000 grant for the creation of the sculpture.