Maine art goes to the dogs

Renowned Photographer Unveils Mural at Rest Stop

My first thought when I heard about this was: leave it to Maine to take a $100,000 art appropriation and spend it on pictures of funny-looking dogs. But I've mulled over it for a while, and I've decided that this isn't entirely bad.

First of all, the art is appropriate to the venue. At least the Maine Arts Commission has a sense of irony, and it knows you can't really slap a bunch of Winslow Homers on a rest stop wall. They would be out of place. Nor did they choose any of the voraciously overused symbols of Maine culture: lighthouses, clipper ships, moose, lobster, loons, black bears, blueberries, or pine trees. They chose something accessible that people will enjoy looking at. And you know what, dogs are funny.

I'm still a little bit skeptical, though, because of this quote offered by Donna McNeil of the Maine Arts Commission:

"It was about creating an icon. ... New York has the Statue of Liberty. Paris has the Eiffel Tower. This was about creating a visual icon that speaks about Maine as a place of culture."

...So, Maine's culture should be represented by Weimaraners? I'm not sure this is right.