Artist Andy Goldsworthy at work on the first stage of Road Line at Colllege of the Atlantic. The site-specific artwork is Goldsworthy's first permanent installation in the State of Maine.
A 1,500-foot-long, sinuous wave of cut stone, Andy Goldsworthy’s Road Line will travel from the Eden Street sidewalk nearly to Frenchman Bay. The sculpture is made from curbstone cut to Department of Transportation regulations, measuring 24” tall x 6” tall x 5” wide, and is Goldsworthy’s first permanent installation in the State of Maine.
“Road Line will begin to appear as art after deviating from the straight and narrow path of the Eden Street curb,” Goldsworthy says. The work is meant to resonate with COA students who will also travel through the college on their own journeys, he says, and wherever their lives take them after graduation, curbstones will always remind them of their time in Maine.
Granite has long historical resonance in the Northeast US, where Goldsworthy has actively worked with the still-thriving granite industry. He draws inspiration for Road Line from the heritage of granite curbstones that edge many of the roadways in East Coast towns and cities.
Goldsworthy broke ground on the sculpture with a test run during spring term 2023, and is set to continue beginning late July. Devin Connor ’12 is the chief mason on the project.
How to see Road Line
The College of the Atlantic campus is open to visitors, and those interested in watching the progress of Road Line are encouraged to do so. We ask that you respect the privacy of the artist and crew while here.
Guided tours of Road Line led by COA President Darron Collins ’92 are held on Thursdays at 11 a.m. through September, 2023. Tours will gather at The Whale Skull, along the main entrance to campus. Please contact advancement@coa.edu if interested in a tour.
If you are planning to bring a very large group—for example a school field trip—and you’d like a guided tour of the installation, please reach out to advancement@coa.edu to confirm availability.
Road Line at the COA 2023 Summer Institute
In addition to his time on campus for the installation, Andy Goldsworthy participated in the COA Summer Institute: Reimagining Exploration, held in collaboration with The National Geographic Society (July 31-August 4 on campus and online). Goldsworthy and Courtney J. Martin, the Paul Mellon Director of the Yale Center for British Art, took up Exploring the Natural/Cultural Divide through Art. Watch now!
Artist Andy Goldsworthy's Road Line will travel 1,500 feet through the College of the Atlantic campus.
More about Andy Goldsworthy
In a diverse career spanning four decades, Andy Goldsworthy has become one of the most prominent and iconic contemporary sculptors. Goldsworthy documents his explorations of the effects of time, the relationship between humans and their natural surroundings, and the beauty in loss and regeneration in photographs, sculptures, installations, and films.
“Road Line is a water moccasin crossing a quick-flowing river—graceful, strong, and in its element.”
~ Andy Goldsworthy ~
Recent permanent site-specific installations by Goldsworthy include: Walking Wall, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Watershed, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum; Stone Sea, Saint Louis Art Museum; Chaumont Cairn, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire; Path and Rising Stone, Albright Knox Art Gallery; and Wood Line, Presidio of San Francisco. Goldsworthy is currently working on Hanging Stones in North York Moors, UK. In this ongoing project, 10 existing buildings, all in varying states of disrepair, have been or will be rebuilt as artworks and connected by a six-mile walk encompassing Northdale, near
Rosedale Abbey.
Other permanent works can be seen at the National Gallery of Art, de Young Museum, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Storm King Art Center, Stanford University, and Haute Provence Geological Reserve, among numerous other sites. The Yorkshire has presented major solo exhibitions of Goldsworthy’s work in Sculpture Park, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and Des Moines Art Center.
Visit Andy Goldsworthy’s website to learn more about his work.
Road Line progress
Andy Goldsworthy
-
Artist Andy Goldsworthy at College of the Atlantic.
-
Granite curbstone with Kaelber Hall in the background.
-
Andy Goldsworthy, left, with COA President Darron Collins '92 while working on Road Line on the COA campus.
-
Granite curbstone destined to become part of Road Line, a permanent installation on College of the Atlantic's campus by artist Andy Goldsworthy.
-
Devin Connor '12, center, is the head mason on Andy Goldsworthy's Road Line.
-
Birds-eye view of the early stages of Road Line on the College of the Atlantic campus.
Benjamin Troutman ’24
-
Artist Andy Goldsworthy works on the early stages of Road Line on the College of the Atlantic campus.
Benjamin Troutman ’24
About College of the Atlantic
College of the Atlantic is the first college in the US to focus on the relationship between humans and the environment. The intentionally small school of 350 students and 35 faculty enriches the liberal arts tradition through a distinctive educational philosophy—human ecology. A human-ecological perspective integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and personal experience to investigate—and ultimately improve—the relationships between human beings and our social, natural, built, and technological environments. The human-ecological perspective guides all aspects of education, research, activism, and interactions among the college’s students, faculty, staff, and trustees. Learn more at coa.edu.