Claws & Effect Midcoast merchants hope art exhibit will haul in more visitors

Who can forget the 1950s sci-fi classic “Them,” in which radiation unleashed in the desert creates an army of mutant ants, 20 feet tall?

In the film – a kind of Cold War allegory in which plot and reality are stretched to the breaking point – the ants quickly and unexplainably show up in the aqueducts leading to Los Angeles (where else?), and terrorize the city.

Flash forward almost half a century, mix in some (mostly) post-counterculture artists, and you’ve got an idea of what awaits Rockland this summer. Call it “Claws,” a reality-based staging in which the city’s favorite crustacean leaves the rocky bottom of Penobscot Bay and takes up residence on street corners, and in parks.

Lobster Maine-ia is the Rockland-Thomaston Area Chamber of Commerce’s answer to Belfast’s Bearfest, which was inspired by Chicago’s Parade of Cows a few years ago, which was an idea lifted from some European cities. The public art exhibitions have been enormously successful, providing a draw for tourists and raising funds for nonprofit organizations.

This spring, the Rockland Chamber bought and distributed 50 fiberglass likenesses of lobsters to area artists. The lobsters are standing – sort of – with their claws extended forward and slightly open, their tails tucked underneath them. The creatures measure about 5 feet from bottom to top.

As with the successful Belfast Bearfest last summer – which is being reprised this summer – artists are matched with sponsors around town, mostly businesses. In some cases, artists are given free rein to interpret their lobsters any way their wacky artistic minds are inclined. Other sponsors may suggest a theme for the lobster that relates to their business.

In Belfast, artists affixed all kinds of junk – uh, make that all kinds of media – to the bears. Things like a rocket strapped to the back of one, and chicken wire wrapped, skirt-like, around another, called a “ballerina bear.”

The lobsters should lend themselves to all kinds of interpretations. The claws are ideal for hanging material, and the way the tail tucks under the critter suggests a sort of chair, which no doubt will be quickly discovered by children.

Tenants Harbor artist Cindy McIntyre is working on both a bear and a lobster this spring. Her theme for the lobster will probably be lobster buoys; she plans to paint representations of the brightly colored floats all over the body of the crustacean.

Dawn Andrick of Warren, who usually does oil paintings and pencil drawings, hasn’t settled on the theme for her lobster. She will meet with the sponsor, a local pet store, to discuss the choice. Among the ideas she is considering are painting the lobster like a Dalmatian, with small pictures inside the dog’s spots; putting a leash on the lobster; and having the lobster wear a T-shirt that reads “I Love My Pet.”

While Belfast organizers debated the choices before settling on the bears, Rockland’s choice was obvious. This seagoing city at the mouth of Penobscot Bay is home to one of the biggest and most successful lobster fleets in the state.

Rockland has already become a popular stop for tourists. In midsummer, the sidewalks of Main Street are jammed with people coming to visit the Farnsworth Art Museum, the many private art galleries, or bound for a walk along the historic Rockland Breakwater, which leads to a classic Maine lighthouse.

If the experience of other cities around the country is any indication, the lobster public art event should earn Rockland a “must stop and see” designation on many tourists’ itinerary.

The Chamber has opted for unveils each week. The first will be on June 15, when eight lobsters will be installed in Harbor Park, adjacent to the Chamber building. Then, each Friday through mid-July, another group of lobsters will be unveiled. Most will be set in parks around town.

During the course of the summer, visitors and locals will be able to vote for their favorite lobster.

After Labor Day, the creatures will be trapped and hauled in Sept. 15 for a final public viewing at the Owls Head Transportation Museum, and then they will be auctioned on Sept. 22. The artists receive a percentage of the sale price, and the remaining funds will go to the Chamber.

For more information, call the Chamber at 596-0376, or visit the Web site: www.rocklandlobsters.com.