Chestnut Street Public Art Arch - Portsmouth, New Hampshire - Freestanding Arches on Waymarking.com

Spanning Chestnut Street at Congress Street between Kearsarge House and the Hartford Building stands the Chestnut Street Public Art Arch, a gift in the form of a wayfinding gateway to the city from The Music Hall. It was designed by local artist Terrence Parker and fabricated by NeoKraft, a Lewiston, Maine, corporation which also installed it in 2018.

From Seacoastonline.com, a description by Monte Bohanan, The Music Hall director of marketing and communications:
"The arch...is based on design elements from the historic doorways, architecture, and furniture pediments of Portsmouth. As such, it creates a strong sense of threshold, directing people to not just the Music Hall, but the African Burial Ground and other cultural entities too. Beyond the historic references, the arch also has muscular detailing similar to the new Memorial Bridge, like prominent nuts and bolts, and will serve a valuable way-finding function for city visitors."

Fast Facts:

• Height: 37 feet (11.25 meters)
• Width: 35.5 feet (10.75 meters)
• Weight: 10,000 pounds
• Materials: Steel and Aluminum coated in Bronze

A pair of seven foot tall pedestal bases clad in light gray granite support the structure. Stainless steel plaques are mounted to the north, east, and west faces of both. The north and outside plaques direct to the nearby sites of the African Burying Ground, Discover Portsmouth, Market Square, Music Hall Loft, and Portwalk North End. The inside plaques are inscribed:

East:

CHESTNUT STREET PUBLIC ART ARCH
ERECTED JUNE 2018

ARTIST
TERRENCE PARKER

MANUFACTURER
NEOKRAFT

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
JEFF NAWROCKI

PROJECT LEADERS
MUSIC HALL FACILITIES COMMITTEE UNDER CHAIR BEN AUGER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PATRICIA LYNCH WITH THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH

West:

IN HONOR OF JAMES A. LABRIE
AND THE LABRIE FAMILY

THIS ARCH WAS MADE POSSIBLE
IN PART THANKS TO THEIR
GENEROUS GIFT

Type: Gateway Subtype: Sculpture Location: Chestnut Street at Congress Street between Kearsarge House and the Hartford Building

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