Artists to build sculpture of 450-foot sailing ship

BATH – The Maine Maritime Museum is thinking big with the commissioning of one of the largest pieces of public art ever attempted in Maine.

The museum, which exceeded its fund-raising goal, has selected two local artists to build a see-through sculpture of the 450-foot Wyoming, which was the largest wooden sailing ship ever built in the world.

The Wyoming’s steel frame will stretch from Washington Street to the Kennebec River. Its six masts will stand 175 feet.

Wednesday’s announcement culminates a two-year campaign to raise money for improvements to the museum’s Washington Street campus.

Executive Director Thomas Wilcox said the campaign, which ended this month, exceeded its goal of $3.5 million. Of the $4 million raised, $300,000 will go toward the Wyoming.

The original Wyoming was built at the Percy and Small Shipyard in Bath, which was acquired by the museum in 1975.

Museum officials settled on the Wyoming project because they knew they would need something more than building improvements to create excitement about their effort to relay Maine’s maritime history.

“We wanted to do this project because it will illustrate in a dramatic fashion what went on here,” said Thomas Wilcox, the museum’s executive director. “It was important that these people had a strong appreciation for the history behind the Wyoming. We wanted it to be a good fit.”

The Wyoming was launched Dec. 15, 1909. Its main function was to carry coal – it had a storage capacity of 6,000 tons – between the mines of Virginia and ports in the north that included Boston and Portland.

The Wyoming and all its crew were lost during a storm off Nantucket, Mass., on March 11, 1924.

Andreas von Huene of Arrowsic, one of the artists, described the Wyoming project as a historical three-dimensional sculpture.

The ship will not be covered with wooden planks, which means a bystander will be able to look through the exhibit. The frame probably will be steel, but might be aluminum or fiberglass. Its six masts will be planted in the ground, making it a permanent exhibit.

Von Huene and the other artist, Joe Hemes of South Portland, will begin construction on the project early next year and hope to finish by December 2001.