Moose on South Main
By Ben Leubsdorf/Monitor staff
August 8, 2011
Steve Duprey has purchased a 22-foot-tall sculpture of a moose head and plans to install it in front of his new office building at 49 S. Main St.
Moose Myth, which is made of sticks and saplings, is a creation of Donna Dodson of Boston and Andy Moerlein of Bow. It's been displayed in Portsmouth and is now on display at the University of New England in Portland, Maine.
Moerlein said Duprey, the Concord developer, bought the sculpture through Pam Tarbell of Mill Brook Gallery and plans to move it in late August to the so-called "Smile Building."
"It's going to be quite distinctive. . . . Mr. Duprey has quite a vision for how the arts are going to wake up Concord," he said.
Moerlein declined to say how much Duprey paid for the sculpture but said it was "not a huge amount of money. It was definitely a gift to the city from all of us."
In an email, Duprey said he's a fan of the artist and thought the sculpture "would be a good addition" to the area, across from the Capitol Center for the Arts. He needs permission from the city to put it on the sidewalk but said if necessary he can move it closer to the building, which will get its first occupants later this month.
Moose Myth was created more than a year ago and "easily" has another year of life, Moerlein said, but eventually will decay and have to be removed.
"It's a temporary installation. It's a temporary piece," he said. "(Duprey's) making an investment to make a big bang and show it off."
By Monitor staff
August 14, 2011
Downtown Concord is a delightful place, but it's always lacked that touch of madness that makes a city electric. Soon, local developer Steve Duprey will ask the Concord City Council for permission to add that missing ingredient. If permission is granted, and it should be, the spark will arrive in the form ofMoose Myth, a 22-foot-tall moose-headed man-like creature made of saplings.
The sculpture, a collaboration of artists Andy Moerlein of Bow and Donna Dodson of Jamaica Plain, Mass., is ephemeral. It will be erected in front of Duprey's Smile Building on South Main Street. If all goes according to plan, the sculpture will be replaced in a year by a rotating series of works by members of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, which will have its headquarters in the new building.
We welcome Moose Myth with open arms. The work, which has been displayed in Portsmouth's Market Square, among other places, will bring people downtown. Love it or hate it, people will have something to talk about other than bad economy and the presidential candidates gripping and grinning their way around the state.
Photo credit: Andy Moerlein
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