Perpetual Fresco
Maine’s wall-to-ceiling fresco feast is always open.
The South Solon Meeting House has been open to the public for 168 years—24/7. All you have to do is walk up to the front door and let yourself in. It’s never locked—never has been. A typical New England country building on the outside—white-sided with a copper bell tower and pine-shingled roof—it is anything but typical on the inside.
More than 50 years ago, 13 artists from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture transformed the interior with fresco murals, and now every square inch of the ceiling and walls is covered with scenes of winged angels, farm families, cascading flowers, jazz dancers, and the Last Supper.
Designed and built by John Doe of Embden, the South Solon Historical Society recently restored it for about a thousand times more than its original cost of $223. Today people continue to celebrate marriages, anniversaries, birthdays there, or just stop in anytime they want to watch the sunlight or the moonlight play on the frescoes.
Getting there:
• Take Exit 133 from 1-95.
• Go north on Route 201 toward Skowhegan.
• Drive through Skowhegan north on Route 201 until a fork in the road and go right on East Madison Road.
• Road becomes Meeting House Road; follow until you reach the Solon Road, about 13 miles from Skowhegan.
• The South Solon Meeting House will be on your left at the intersection.
You must log in to post a comment.