Skowhegan Indian sculpture hits the market for $1

SKOWHEGAN — The Skowhegan Indian, a local landmark that has loomed large over the town for decades, is for sale.

The price, for those interested in buying the large wooden sculpture: $1.

The Skowhegan Regional Chamber of Commerce, which owns the 1969 work by Bernard Langlais, issued a request for proposals Friday to buy the nearly 60-year-old, weather-beaten Indian behind the Cumberland Farms off Madison Avenue and High Street.

The chamber, which has been exploring handing over ownership of the Indian for more than a year, has a particular kind of buyer in mind.

“The Chamber seeks a responsible party who will ensure the continued care, preservation, and public accessibility of the artwork,” the request for proposals says.

As part of the request, the chamber is asking applicants to submit a detailed, annual maintenance plan and budget, a timeline for that work to begin and two references from previous projects “that demonstrate the applicant’s ability to successfully manage and preserve public art.”

According to the request for proposals, applicants will be evaluated on their qualifications and experience in art preservation; the completeness and feasibility of their proposed maintenance plan and budget; their ability to commit to long-term preservation and public access; their proposed timeline for taking responsibility for the sculpture; and their references.

The window to submit proposals is open for a 60-day period, ending July 13.

If no eligible party emerges, the chamber says it would “move forward with the respectful dismantling” of the sculpture.

“This decision will be made in consultation with relevant experts, and all efforts will be taken to ensure that the dismantling process is done in a manner that preserves the integrity and historical significance of the sculpture,” the request for proposals says. “While it is the Chamber’s hope to find a suitable owner for the continued preservation of this iconic piece of art, the absence of a responsible proposal will necessitate this course of action for the future safety and security of the sculpture.”

Calls and emails to the chamber’s office on Monday were not answered. Luke York, the chairman of the chamber’s board of directors, also did not return phone calls Monday.

Garrett Quinn, a real estate broker who serves on the chamber’s board, said those with questions about what the chamber is doing should read the request for proposals.

“Our position is clearly outlined in the RFP,” said Quinn, reached via telephone Monday.

Quinn declined to say whether the chamber has fielded any interest from individuals or organizations in the last year, as discussions about the Indian’s future became more pressing.

“Everything that has happened in the past has landed us squarely where we are today with the RFP,” he said.

The 62-foot-tall wooden sculpture of a Native American fisherman, titled Skowhegan Indian, has been deteriorating, in part, because of the year-round exposure of its wooden elements to Maine’s harsh climate.

A 10-year, $65,000 effort to restore the Indian was finished in 2014.

When more visible damage to the statue last winter led the town to block off the area with yellow caution tape and traffic cones, chamber leaders said they were going to come up with a plan of how to proceed with addressing the damage again.

The chamber offered the Indian first to the town of Skowhegan in March 2024, saying that owning and maintaining the large work of public art was “outside of our purview.”

The Board of Selectmen, considering whether to ask voters at town meeting if they wanted to accept the statute, ultimately rejected the chamber’s offer. Town officials estimated the need to raise $250,000 in funds from taxes for initial repairs, with anticipated costs in subsequent years for upkeep.

The chamber said then that it would open the offer to the public for 90 days before proceeding with taking it down.

Email newsletters from the chamber since then indicate the group instead had been trying to put together a committee to address the Indian’s future.

The Skowhegan Tourist Hospitality Association commissioned the sculpture in 1966, and Langlais, a student and teacher at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, completed it in 1969, according to the history published on the chamber’s website that has been removed.

Some consider it to be the largest sculpture of its kind in the world.

The sculpture depicts the Wabanaki fisherman holding a spear in his left hand and a weir, or fish trap, in his right hand.

“The sculpture is dedicated to the Maine Indians,” a sign next to the sculpture reads, “the first people to use these lands in peaceful ways.”

In 2013, Langlais’ estate gave more than 20 of his other sculptures, many of which also are wooden, to the nonprofit Main Street Skowhegan. They are placed around town in various locations; the Langlais Art Trail maps the location of the sculptor’s work in dozens of locations across Maine.

But the Indian is by far the largest and perhaps most iconic in Skowhegan, where the nickname for school athletic teams used to be the Indians. The nickname was retired in 2019 following years of contentious debate.

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