Art & Education: Check Out The New Look Of This Bangor Pump Station

It's always nice when art is not only used to beautify a space but to educate those who visit it.

That's exactly the purpose of a recent installation, "Showing off our Mussels"- the Penobscot River Ecology mural in the Bangor area, which serves as both a canvas and a classroom.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Maine and Bangor Beautiful, and its purpose is to help bring awareness of the importance of the freshwater ecosystem that's found in our local waterways, specifically where the Penobscot River and the Kenduskead Stream meet.

According to the University of Maine, students from the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology program teamed up with the UMaine Intermedia Program and local artists through the Bangor Beautiful group to come up with the template. Then they got to work bringing their work to life on the Kenduskeag Pump Station with depictions of all sorts of local water creatures.

"Students painted all four sides of the water pump station, located at the corner of Washington and Broad Streets in downtown. The mural serves as a visual representation of the freshwater ecosystem at the intersection of the Kenduskeag Stream and Penobscot River. It features depictions of various species like turtles, fish, and frogs that will be cut from wood to give the mural a 3D element."

The mural also has interactive QR codes that visitors can scan. When they scan the codes, they'll be able to learn about the other scientific and sociological facts about the area.

The mural was created by UMaine Ph.D. candidate Jill Fedarick, Susan Smith, graduate coordinator for Intermedia Programs at the University, unit leader and University of Maine Assistant Professor, Christina Murphy, and local artist and President of Bangor Beautiful, Annette Dodd.