Together Place Maine Icons Mural

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The Together Place mural at Second and Union streets gives Bangor an outdoor encounter with several kinds of Maine achievement. Liam Reading's two-wall artwork brings athletes, writers, a musician, a reformer and a Civil War figure into a colorful shared setting. The selection matters as much as the portraits themselves. It presents accomplishment through different lives and disciplines, with a purpose tied to the organization on whose building it was painted.

The mural is an exterior work at the Together Place recovery center, completed in 2018 while Reading was a University of Maine student. The current downtown public-art map continues to identify the work at this corner. View it from the public pedestrian network and leave entrances, accessible routes and the center's everyday activity clear. An interest in the mural does not require entering programs or photographing people using the building.

Alex Acquisto's original reporting distinguishes the two surfaces. The wall toward Second Street includes baseball player Louis Sockalexis, runner Joan Benoit Samuelson and swimmer Ian Crocker. The Union Street side includes Joshua Chamberlain, Dorothea Dix, Stephen King and Patty Griffin, alongside a reproduction of a Winslow Homer painting. That last distinction is useful: the visual reference to Homer is an artwork within the mural, and should not automatically be described as another portrait of its maker.

Together Place's own explanation of its purpose provides context for the setting. The organization emphasizes adults taking leadership in their own lives and peer support informed by lived experience. Looking at the painted people through that lens suggests a question about aspiration: how can public images make possibility visible? The relationship between the wall and the center gives the work a particular meaning, beyond simply assembling a list of well-known residents.

The commission's original coverage records support from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. The grant contributed to the mural as part of work on the building and grounds. That context is worth remembering when reading the appearance of Stephen King in the painting. The work's larger idea is the range of Maine lives it brings together, rather than a single literary reference. Choose a person whose name is unfamiliar and make that the beginning of a later, separate piece of reading.

Jason Stewart's July 2018 account offers an individual response to seeing the painting. He visited briefly to make his own photographs, admired the work and felt those images did not fully communicate its effect. He wanted to return for a longer look. This is a local writer's stated encounter, rather than a summary of visitor consensus. It also suggests a worthwhile approach: give the walls enough attention to see how one painted person relates to the others.

For a visit, begin with the difference between the two street-facing compositions, then concentrate on one section from a safe sidewalk position. A photograph that retains part of the building can convey the public setting, while a detail records the particular image that held your attention. Credit Liam Reading, and respect the privacy of anyone nearby. Together Place's mural offers a distinct public-art experience built around people, achievement and the possibility of encouragement in an ordinary neighborhood setting.

Fun facts

1. Liam Reading completed the two-wall mural in 2018.
2. Its depicted people include athletes, artists and historical figures.
3. A Winslow Homer painting is reproduced within the composition.

Read the official sources →

Visitor perspectives

1. Jason Stewart’s July 2018 personal visit account praises the mural and says his quick photographs did not fully convey its effect.

Capture

1. Show the two-wall arrangement from safe pedestrian positions.
2. Choose one detail without including identifiable center visitors.

Social

Liam Reading’s Together Place mural brings several kinds of Maine achievement together.

The two-wall work was completed in 2018.

Second Street and Union Street offer different compositions to consider.

Athletes, writers, a musician and historical figures share the visual setting.

A reproduction of a Winslow Homer painting adds another kind of artistic reference.

The recovery center’s mission gives the subject of aspiration a particular context.

Photograph the art while respecting everyone using the center.

Which unfamiliar name would you want to learn about after viewing the mural?

Hashtags

1. #Cre8Travel
2. #Maine
3. #BangorMaine
4. #PublicArt

Sources & visitor information

• map.proxi.co
• www.bangordailynews.com
• togetherplace.org
• q1065.fm