Public Art

Peter Kent: becoming a (public) artist


	Peter Kent's first Percent for Art project was Hallow Seating (rock maple, found stones and metal) FOR the Falmouth High School, shown here, which he worked on with lighting designer and architect Joe Hemes.

Woolwich artist Peter Kent has worked on three Percent for Art projects: the Falmouth High School, the Edgecomb Elementary School and the Sabbattus Elementary School. This winter he took some time out of writing a letter of intent for another Percent for Art project to talk with Maine Arts Commission staff about how the Percent for Art program has affected his work and how to encourage other artists to get involved.

How did you start working on Percent for Art projects?
I moved to Maine eight or nine years ago. I came up here to build an addition on a 1850s farm house I inherited from my grandmother. I thought I was going to come up here for three or five months to do that project and head back to Philadelphia. It ended up taking me two years. In that time I met Andreas von Huene [who has worked on several Percent for Art projects]. It was really his encouragement that got me to send slides in.

How has involvement in public art affected your work?
It was really, for me, the beginning of thinking in terms of something that embraced a larger vision. I never went to art school. I still have trouble getting my mouth around the word "artist."

Before I started doing Percent for Art projects, I had spent many years doing high-end additions on historical houses, making furniture and working on architectural detail. The [Percent for Art] projects allow me to tackle an entire space and create something that is specifically unique to that space - the light in that space, the materials of the floor, the height of the ceiling.

What was the first Percent for Art site you worked on?
The Falmouth [High School] project. I worked with Joe Hemes, a lighting designer and architect. We decided together to grapple with the space. He did the lighting and I echoed with something at ground level-sculptural seating. I feel that we got the project because we really transformed the space. We didn't just put objects in the room.

What is the difference in addressing a public space?
I had to think about the people that were going to, on a daily basis, be around these things. It wasn't as simple as furniture.
I felt I had to dig a little deeper to find something human — a sense of line, a sense of shape. I think that part of what this whole public art process opened up for me is a spiritual aspect of myself that has always been there. It is more than just a day job. It allows me to express and leave something of myself somewhere — and frankly to get credit for it.


	Circle Seating by Peter Kent, from the Edgecomb Elementary school (rock maple and metal).

How do you feel about the Percent for Art selection process?
I really like to write. I enjoy the letter of intent because I have to define myself and what I do. I'm writing a letter of intent today and was looking back over ones I'd sent four and five years ago. They've really evolved into a spiritual statement. I have to find an answer for why I make the choices I do when I create. It's never easy to not get a project you spend time on. I really felt the Department of Conservation was the best presentation I could have made. I didn't get the job. I still felt, after the first blow [of not having my proposal selected], that it was the best presentation for that space. I do feel that the work I put into [developing proposals for] the projects, whether I get them or not, does add to my unique expression.

Has the program made it easier for you to make a living as an artist in Maine?
There was a point at which I might have left Maine, except for the Falmouth project — except that I felt I had a foothold in something that was important to me in a way that I hadn't fully explored yet. It definitely kept me here. The Philadelphia [public art] program is not as accessible. In California, artists feel like their programs are out of their grasp. There's something about the Maine program that feels more accessible and more possible.

It still amazes me that there is a program out there that funds my own investigation into new ideas in a way that I can hardly believe is true. I feel like I'm being recognized and allowed to come up with the best that I can come up with. I don't think I'll get rich doing this, but that isn't my goal.

What would you say to artists who are considering responding to a call for artists for the first time?
I often encourage artists I meet to participate — it can really help develop you as an artist. I would encourage artists to think bigger than their medium. If you can't make it, then dictate its production via somebody else. People should think of themselves as artists — as a portal for ideas — not as experts in a certain medium.

How do you see your work evolving in the future?
There is a genetic inheritance in the project I am working on now from that first project. In my own works, I am trying to be a portal for any idea. It allows me to think really big and draw in more people. I'm used to working in teams. I can think and design and detail much faster than I can build. There still a lot of "doing" on my part but I can sidestep a lot of the labor that someone else can do better and love doing. I think a lot of artists begin working that way when they want to reach further. They give up needing to do it all. That has not been easy for me. [The Percent for Art program] has shaped my direction. Without it I wouldn't be doing what IÕm doing now. Each time I have a project that is accepted, I'm in a bit of wonder that people want these things that I love doing and they're willing to pay for them. I'm even beginning, at times, to call myself an artist.