Public art projects in Rochester and Portsmouth help build community and spark conversations, but not always without controversy.

About 500 people in the Rochester area have painted portraits of themselves, their families, their pets, or their community, on wooden panels that together create an architectural sculpture resembling and representing the Lilac City.

The outdoor sculpture, assembled on June 4 in Parson Main Square at the intersection of Wakefield and North Main streets in downtown Rochester, forms a three-dimensional, angular skyline with windows into familiar faces and places. The community art project organized by Art Esprit will be on display through Oct. 23. It will then be dismantled and transformed into wall murals for the Rochester Community Center.    

People of all ages and skill levels were invited to make a contribution, helping to define the city’s identity for the project, “Rochester Creates: Portraits!” 

Art Esprit, the visual and literary arts organization based in Rochester, has successfully arranged summer-long public art exhibits in the past, including last year’s “If These Rocks Could Talk,” but this is their first in a “Rochester Creates” series, open to all in the area.

Art Esprit president Adam Pearson spontaneously designed and constructed the piece on-site with other volunteers, attempting to give every panel equal visibility. 

“It was a beautiful thing when it all came together,” Pearson said. “I think all the members of the community will be happy with it.”

The project was intended to involve as many people as possible, he said, and with so many participants, he hopes the community will feel a sense of ownership. He said that should ease concerns about vandalism that always come with public art.

Susan Schwake, co-owner of artstream studios in Rochester, said every Art Esprit project has been well received. “Rochester is ready to be asked to do something creative,” she said.

However, the public art component of the Portsmouth Museum of Art’s “Street A.K.A. Museum” exhibit has met with a mix of compliments and complaints. 

The exhibit opened in May and includes public murals by international street artists Bumblebee, Herakut, Shark Toof, Alexandros Vasmoulakis, and Andreas von Chrzanowski at several locations, forming a downtown walking tour in Portsmouth. They also have artwork on display in the museum at One Harbour Place, which will be up through Sept. 11.

Calls of complaint came into multiple departments at Portsmouth City Hall, according to Nancy Carmer, economic development coordinator. She said the overall opinion was that the urban artwork didn’t complement the historic architecture of the city.

One City Hall operator said there were many calls from people who said the street art encourages graffiti, which local law enforcement has been fighting for years.

Though city officials were informed about the idea, they have no jurisdiction over it. The murals are on private property and paint is not regulated in the business district, Carmer said.

A couple of Portsmouth programs support public art. A city ordinance allocates a percent of all new construction costs to public art, and the city’s cultural commission, Art-Speak, organizes public art exhibits every other summer for “Overnight Art.” Carmer said the city understands how much arts and culture contribute to the local economy.

Still, even the pieces in “Overnight Art,” juried and site-specific, have been subject to vandalism and controversy in the past. A giant ant sculpture by Nathan Walker was infamously decapitated in Market Square in the spring of 2008.

One of the most controversial murals in the “Street A.K.A. Museum” show is a bold work by Vasmoulakis on the side of the Marple & James Real Estate building at the intersection of State and Pleasant streets. Jane James, whose business partner Jeff Marple owns the building, is a former chair of Art-Speak.

“People have come here because of the environment the arts created,” James said.

She was pleased to participate in the art project and proud that the artists felt so at home while they were here working. She said the artists were thoughtful about their host community and did their research, as evidenced by several Celia Thaxter poetry quotes.

“I had no idea it would cause such quack,” she said. “It’s only paint.”

Cathy Sununu, director of the Portsmouth Museum of Art, said she would not have presented the exhibit without the public murals that present street art in context. The museum focuses on 21st century emerging art and works to connect the city with what people are talking about around the world, she said. Street art has been a hot topic in recent years.

“Wouldn’t it be nice for Portsmouth to feel like it’s right in the middle of that conversation?” she said.

Sununu said she’d like to see the conversation continue on art in public places and the role it will play in the city’s future, helping to beautify busy areas and connect people to overlooked sites. The museum is hosting a public forum on Wednesday, June 8 at 6 p.m.“It’s our job to spark conversation and make people think,” she said.

The Portsmouth Museum of Art is also hosting the Black Book Project on five Sundays this summer, beginning June 12, to teach people about street art and foster respect.

The Portsmouth exhibit also inspired Main Street Art in Newfields to launch a similar project called “Doors to Art,” a public exhibit closing on Saturday, June 18, at Battles Park in Newfields at the corner of Route 85 and Pleasant Street. 

One of the murals in Portsmouth, on an abandoned gas station on Islington Street, was vandalized shortly after being painted. The mural, by Bumblebee, reads in bold capital letters, “Bee is for Broke.” An anonymous graffiti artist countered by spray-painting the words, “self promotion in the guise of art and community.” Sununu said it was disappointing, although not entirely unexpected. 

“This was all done legally, not illegally,” she said. “We’re not trying to encourage vandalism. We’re trying to encourage thought and conversation.”

Sununu said the participating property owners were “brave souls” in support of the arts. “It’s one thing to talk about it and it’s another to live it,” she said.

Since participation is central to community art projects, this type of public art gives people a sense of pride, said artist Lizz Van Saun.

In Rochester, during the unveiling of the “Rochester Creates” sculpture, Van Saun invited the community to help make a mosaic mural for display in the Rochester Community Center. 

“I think the people who connected on Saturday were people who needed to connect, and I think we all do,” she said. “It’s more about that than having a final project.”

For more on Art Esprit, visit Artstream Studios at 56 North Main St., Rochester, 603-330-0333, or visit www.artesprit.blogspot.com.