This Passamaquoddy artist is designing a statue for Portland’s new park

Portland Welcomes New Indigenous‑Inspired Sculpture for Waterfront Park

Portland, ME – A 6‑foot bronze figure will soon stand at the entrance to the city’s upcoming First Light Commons waterfront park, honoring the city’s long‑standing relationship to the sea and the Wabanaki peoples who have lived and fished along the coast for generations. The statue, named Amewin—the Penobscot word for a fisherman—was chosen in June from a competitive call by Portland’s Public Art Committee and is slated for installation in the spring.

The park itself will cover 3.5 acres on the waterfront between India and Hancock Streets, offering public green space, walking and biking trails, and views of the harbor. The project is still under construction, but the city has already identified a granite slab on site that will serve as the base for the new sculpture.

An Artist Rooted in Tradition

The artist behind the work is Gabriel Frey, a Passamaquoddy basketweaver from Orono. Frey has long balanced his time between making baskets—learning the craft from his grandfather, one of the few Wabanaki artisans who produced utilitarian baskets rather than ceremonial pieces—and developing large‑scale public art. In 2019, he received a United States Artists fellowship that included a $50,000 award, and his brother Jeremy has also earned the fellowship for his own basket‑making work.

“When another Wabanaki artist said, ‘hey, you should apply for this,’ I looked it up, and the artistic prompts were everything to do with this piece, which was how do we tie past, present and future together with the environment and our connection to land and sea? I was like, oh, man, this is kind of perfect,” Frey told the press.

Frey has also spent more than two decades preparing for the arrival of the invasive emerald ash borer, which threatens the black ash trees that are central to Wabanaki basketmaking. “I’ve gone through every emotional reaction you can think of, just from like, well, I guess I’ll never do art again or have to get a day job or something,” he said, reflecting on the cultural and environmental pressures that have shaped his practice.

A Tribute to Past and Present

The Public Art Committee’s call asked for works that would “tie past, present and future together with the environment and our connection to land and sea.” Frey’s Amewin captures that brief with a bronze fisherman standing 6 feet tall, spear in hand, embodying both the historical practice of Wabanaki spear fishing and the contemporary life of Portland’s harbor.

“We still have fishing boats that come in,” Frey said. “And so it’s also honoring, not just Wabanaki fisher people, but non‑indigenous as well.” The sculpture, Frey explained, is “a love letter to my community,” adding that there are “sparingly few indigenous expressions that are monumental in nature.”

Portland’s Director of Planning and Urban Development, Kevin Kraft, said the project was intended to acknowledge the city’s maritime heritage. “For millennia, Portland has relied on its ties to the sea for sustenance, commerce, and our sense of belonging,” Kraft remarked. The park’s name, First Light Commons, echoes the Wabanaki meaning of “people of the first light,” a nod to the tribe’s cultural legacy.

From Concept to Construction

The statue’s creation began while Frey was already working on a statue for another commission. He realized the city’s open call fit his vision perfectly, and the design process was described by him as a series of “kismet moments.” In addition to the thematic fit, the park’s development team discovered a suitable granite piece for the sculpture’s base during construction—a coincidence that further solidified the project’s alignment with the artist’s vision.

“Before they chose my proposal, the city had already voted to call the park First Light Commons as a nod to Wabanaki culture,” Frey said. “Also, as they were beginning to construct the park, they found a piece of granite that would work perfectly for the base of Amewin.”

Looking Ahead

The city plans to unveil Amewin in the spring, once the park’s infrastructure is complete. The bronze figure will serve not only as a focal point for the new public space but also as a reminder of Portland’s deep-rooted maritime culture and the continuing presence of the Wabanaki people in the region.

For Frey, the work marks another milestone in his lifelong commitment to cultural preservation and artistic expression. “I think we have so many statues and monuments around the state and the country that highlight white leaders and non‑indigenous people of history, but there are sparingly few indigenous expressions that are monumental in nature,” he noted, underscoring the significance of the upcoming addition to Portland’s public art landscape.