Historic Longfellow Statue the Latest Focus of Portland Public Art Talks
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 43° 39.188 W 070° 16.013
19T E 397838 N 4834127
Historic statue of historic poet and author
Waymark Code: WM1049R
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 02/23/2019
Views: 1
County of Statue: Cumberland County
Location of State: State St. & Congress St., Longfellow Square, Portland
Statue Erected by: The Children of Portland and the Longfellow Statue Association.
Text on the Monument is: Longfellow
Sculptor: Maine born- Franklin Simmons (1839-1913)
Of all the 30-odd pieces in Portland’s public art collection, two are arguably the most famous: the Our Lady of Victories statue in Monument Square and the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Statue in the so-named Longfellow Square.
The latter of those two, featuring Portland’s most famous poet sitting thoughtfully on a podium, will be the subject of the latest in the city’s series of talks about pieces in its collection.
(Previous talks in the series can be read about here, here and here.)
Portland Public Art Committee member Terry DeWan will lead the Friday night talk on the Longfellow statue, which coincides of course with the First Friday Art Walk in the city and begins at 5:30 p.m.
Here’s a little more about the piece as provided by the city in an announcement of the Friday evening event:
"Installed in September of 1888, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Statue was designed and constructed
by Maine sculptor Franklin Simmons shortly after the poet’s death. The bronze-cast statute was
commissioned to memorialize Portland’s and the country’s most famous 19th century poet. The statue
features an academically robed and bearded Longfellow seated and facing the downtown with his right arm
resting on the back of the chair and a scroll in his left. Three bronze books are placed under his chair. Every
year as the holidays approach, Longfellow can be found wearing a long red scarf and holding a wrapped
present. The sculpture was funded by pennies, nickels, and dimes donated by New England children. The
fundraising effort was organized by members of the Longfellow Statue Association. The names of the
children who contributed a little more than $17,000 are in a metal container housed in the memorial’s
base.
"The granite pedestal was designed by Portland architect Francis Fassett and fabricated by Hawkes
Brothers and was a gift to the city from Payson Tucker. At the time of the unveiling of the statute, State
Street Square was renamed Longfellow Square. Originally, State Street passed on both sides of the statue,
but in the 1970’s a landscaped pedestrian area on the east side was created, restricting vehicular traffic to
the west. In 2005, additional designs were added to expand the square and improve access to the area for
pedestrians.
"Surrounding the statute and inlaid in the brick walkway is Art Underfoot, a Community Art Works project
sponsored by PPAC which features collaborations between artists and community members. Artist Natasha
Mayers worked with school children from Reiche School, Somali and Latino groups, city and community
leaders to create tiles which would were cast in bronze by students at Maine College of Art under
the guidance of teacher Anthony Tafuri. The tiles were designed to reflect what might be found in
the ground in Portland including leaves, insects, shells and seeds. The pieces were installed in an area
heavily trafficked by pedestrians with the intent of creating an identifiable landmark that would help foster
a sense of place in a culturally and economically diverse neighborhood."
~ Bangor Daily News, By Seth Koenig, August 2, 2012