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Portland Water District to Continue Allowing Use of Graffiti Wall

After a review that included a public meeting, the Portland Water District Board of Trustees has decided that a wall near the East End Wastewater Treatment Facility will continue to be available for public art.

There were calls to end the practice in September, when a depiction of Gov. Paul LePage as a KKK grand wizard, and later with Mickey Mouse ears, appeared on the wall.

Water District spokeswoman Michelle Clements says more than 50 people attended the public meeting.

“We had a lot of input from the public,” she says. “The majority of it was in favor of keeping the canvas as-is for public art.”

Although the water district owns the wall, it has been in use as a public canvas for 15 years, ever since then-Police Chief Michael Chitwood made a verbal agreement with the district to allow graffiti and other artists free rein there.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.