Westbrook, ME A colorful and grand exhibit of environmental art spanning more than a football field in length is opening to the public free of charge at Rock Row—marking the start of Rock Row’s commitment to bring the wonder of art to everyday life at the 110-acre, $600 million development. Waterstone Properties is the owner of Rock Row.
The creative exhibit, named Rock Row: Inside, Outside The Box, converts six 20-foot-long shipping containers and surrounding grounds into a colossal palette for 10 renowned Maine environmental artists. Each artist was given free rein to utilize the interior and/or exterior of the box, with no limit on what they could or could not do.
The end-result is an eruptive collective of three-dimensional and two-dimensional artistry—some inside the containers that invite guest participation and some outside the containers that warrant reflection—that can be viewed up close, in person, or while driving by in a vehicle.
“Art and creativity is as important to us at Rock Row as water and electricity; without it, we can’t be who we are or do what we want to do,” said Josh Levy, founding partner of Waterstone Properties. “We look at Rock Row as a 110-acre palette that blends the beauty, energy and inspiration of art with life every single day. You can’t change a building once it’s built, but you can constantly change art. Rock Row’s art program exists to create a dynamic ‘wonder and wow’ at every turn…one that fully unleashes and exposes the world-class talents of Maine artists. Inside, Outside The Box is just the beginning of our journey.”
The Rock Row: Inside, Outside The Box exhibit is located behind the Market Basket at Rock Row, off of Larrabee Road in Westbrook. The exhibit is open to the public free of charge, with free parking available in front of Market Basket and in the lot adjacent to the artwork. The exhibit is scheduled to be available through October.
Rock Row chose Bethany Engstrom from Belfast, Maine, to curate the Rock Row: Inside, Outside The Box exhibit. Bethany uses her talent and experience to explore the perception of experience and space through objects, installation, audio and video. Her work has been included in a number of exhibitions in conjunction with the University of Maine, as well as in recent exhibitions at Asymmetrick Arts and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine, and Waterfall Arts in Belfast, Maine. She is a Lecturer at the University of Maine Augusta and former Associate Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art.
Maine artists participating in the Rock Row: Inside, Outside The Box exhibit include
Amy Stacey Curtis: Outside and Inside the Box—an interactive installation involving guests arranging some small cubes, and taking some cubes home
Jenny McGee Dougherty: Outside the Box—multi-color mural
Kayte Demont: Inside the Box—concept sketch of underwater made out of fabric and textiles, interactive with sound
Mike Rich: Outside the Box—mural
Jesse Salisbury: Outside the Box—rock sculpture
Will Sears: Outside the Box—multi-color mural
Aaron Stephan: Outside the Box—free-standing sculpture
Clint Fulkerson: Outside the Box—mural utilizing wavy lines
Tessa Greene O’Brien: Outside the Box—multi-color mural
Wade Kavanaugh & Stephen Nguyen: Outside and Inside the Box—wood sculpture
Rock Row is a 110-acre, $600-million development with more than 2 million s/f of mixed-use office, retail, healthcare/medical and residential space. The project is being built around a 400’-wide natural stone quarry that is currently 300’ deep and naturally filled with water. Rock Row is expected to attract more than six million visitors a year when complete.
Rock Row’s storied past began in 1942, when Blue Rock Industries purchased a gravel pit located on the site of today’s quarry. For over 70 years, the gravel and stone removed from the 26-acre quarry have transformed the way people in Maine and New England live, through the aggregate used in the construction of the Maine Tpke., I-95, I-295, local bridges, Maine military bases and the runway of the Portland International Jetport.
Announced Rock Row tenants include an 80,000 s/f Market Basket supermarket (open), REI, Firehouse Subs, Big Fin Poke, The Paper Store (open), Chase, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks (open), U.S. Cellular (open), a 122-room boutique Element Hotel by Westin, Starbucks, LIVE NATION Maine Savings Pavilion and other retail, dining, entertainment and office tenants in the second largest retail and mixed-use development in New England.
A 200,000 s/f fully-integrated Rock Row Medical & Research Campus, anchored byNew England Cancer Specialists/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, is scheduled to open in late 2023.
Waterstone Properties purchased the quarry site in 2017; the $600 million project is the first of its kind in the state.