ROCKLAND—This past weekend, the public finally got to see the new Center for Maine Contemporary Art’s (CMCA) new glass-enclosed 11,500 square feet building on 21 Winter Street. Since 1952, CMCA has been a fixture in the Midcoast’s arts community, but the time had come to make some major changes.

“Though our old location in Rockport had a great deal of charm, we felt it no longer served our mission,” said CMCA Director Suzette McAvoy. “It had a number of structural issues including uneven floors, which couldn’t support large scale sculptures and installations. And in terms of technology, it wasn’t set up to handle a lot of media. So that, along with the lack of parking and foot traffic, led us to consider a new home. This was a step our board had been looking to make for almost 20 years.”

In April 2013, the property became available.

“We said, ‘this is it,’” said McAvoy. “We have to make the move now because it’s in the heart of the art district and we’re never going to get a location as great as this one.”

After more than a year, the project was completed in June, 2016. Within walking distance of the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Wyeth Center, the Strand Theatre and dozens of art galleries in the vicinity, the new CMCA building is the latest addition cementing Rockland as a year-round arts district. Walking down Winter Street one can see the iconic roofline resembling the slanted “A” in CMCA’s logo.

Upon first impression, the most noticeable feature of the building is its large exterior courtyard with a 24-foot-tall steel sculpture by world-renowned artist and Ogunquit resident Jonathan Borofsky. The sculpture is part of the artist’s Human Structures series. 

“It’s a piece that represents our human connection to the natural world in that it’s positioned right out here in a public space and also our connection to the virtual world,” said McAvoy. 

This is the first time Borofsky has shown his work in the CMCA space, which has allowed him to have a piece outside, as well as numerous pieces inside in the main gallery.

“This courtyard allows us to showcase a sculpture like this in a way that was completely impossible in our former space,” she said.

Designed by architect Toshiko Mori, the connection between outside and inside is evident once through the doorway. Everything is whitewashed, the steel structural beams line up with the windows so that they almost disappear. Natural light washes through the courtyard and into the entry way with saw tooth skylights pulling the light down into the two-story main gallery. 

“The idea was to turn the idea of a traditional museum inside out,” said McAvoy. “When you think of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Museum, this very formal, temple of art kind of thing, it was designed to take the mystery out of it.”

Mori who lives part time on North Haven, was the museum’s first choice to design the new building.  “The way the daylight comes through the Rockland harbor so crisp and clear, I wanted that to come through in this building,” she said. “You can’t see that kind of quality on the Internet; you have to come here and see it for yourself.” Echoing McAvoy, she said she wanted the exterior spaces and interior spaces to be seamless so that people in the courtyard could look inside viewing art in public spaces.

The building contains three exhibition galleries (one of which will double as a lecture hall/performance space), a gift shop, an ArtLab classroom.

Borofsky’s installations are one of three exhibitions debuting for the opening. Artist Alex Katz showcases the small-scale oil paintings in the second gallery and Rollin Leonard’s exhibition “Vernal Pool” features artwork and video installations in the Art Hall.

The aim of the project was to make people say “Wow” when they walked in. And on a beautiful sunny day with all of the dramatic elements of glass, light, space and thoughtful artwork coming together, you can’t help but utter that word.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com