Design
Turning a Blue-Collar Town Into Maine's Year-Round Arts Destination
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) building by Toshiko Mori stakes Rockland’s claim to a rich artistic legacy.
The grimy barges in the harbor of Rockland, Maine, and the abandoned quarries a mile inland seem unchanged from when Edward Hopper painted them in the 1920s. A cement plant dominates the horizon. And until 10 years ago, the smell of a sardine factory blanketed Main Street when an east wind blew.
But the new Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA), dedicated to showing the works of living artists with a connection to Maine, stakes the town’s new claim to a rich artistic legacy through glass and steel.