---
title: Brewer School Installation
description: Transformit Sculptural Tension Fabric Structures
---
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### Penobscot Power
Artist's statement, by Cynthia Thompson, MFA
*Penobscot Power* is abstract art, but it is not without meaning. For this project, I took inspiration from the area's history. The wings of the building are named after the major economic resources and activities of the Penobscot Valley's history: Wood, Paper, Brick, River, Ice, and Marine.
In my installation, you can see the light blue Penobscot River winding its way down from the top of the atrium. The white sections represent ice, which was cut from the river and shipped as far as the Caribbean in the 19th century.
Next is the brown and tan piece representing wood and paper: Logs cut upstream were floated downstream to sawmills powered by the river, or to pulp mills for paper, or to Penobscot Bay, for shipbuilding.
Then comes the piece representing brick making, which took place on the shore of the river, powered by the river and fueled by logs from upstream.
At the bottom, a deeper blue piece represents the Marine resources of Penobscot Bay, including the largest lobster fleet in the world. All these activities except ice making still take place today.
If I were a painter or mosaic artist, I would have been limited to a two-dimensional installation. But I'm a sculptor- I work in three dimensions. This project allowed me to use the entire atrium above the school's entry: 38 feet above the floor, 15 feet wide and 18 feet long, and viewable from below as well as from all sides on the second floor. This is a wonderful space in which to play! What makes tension fabric interesting to me is that it looks different from every angle, moving and changing in every kind of light. It's my hope that the students and the staff of the school will look at *Penobscot Power *frequently, and come to know it over time.
I made a complete scale model of this installation prior to fabrication. You can see pictures of it [here](https://www.transformit.com/newsletter-november-2013/brewer-/). The model is an improtant part of my creative process: I use models to test and prove my ideas. Computer modeling can't replace the actual thing. The fabric pieces of that model (I call them “wings”) were scaled up ("lofted" to use a sailmaker's term) by the design and fabrication team at Transformit. I think of them as a bronze sculptor thinks of her foundry: the team that takes the artist's design and scales it up to its full intended size. Transformit is my “*fabric foundry*”.
Because our installation had to take place in three days over winter vacation, and there were thirty-six rig points, I was a bit concerned that we might have to “edit” the installation's mounting points, or the wings themselves, using our limited installation time. But my fabriucation crew came through with flying colors, and the installation was completed without a hitch.
I thank the Maine Arts Commission and the selection committee, who awarded me the project, and the staff of the school who rode along with me through many changes as the project developed, and, especially, Brian, whose job it will be to take care of the installation, and who catered to our needs over a holiday weekend in late December.
### Project Details
Title: *Penobscot Power*
Artist: Cynthia Thompson, MFA
Fabrication & Installation: Cynthia Thompson, Transformit, and Justin Moriarty
Owner: Brewer School Department
Location: [Brewer Community School](http://www.breweredu.org/), Brewer, ME
Sponsor: [Maine Arts Commission](http://mainearts.maine.gov/)
Architect: [WBRC Architects/ Engineers](http://www.wbrcae.com/), Bangor, ME
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