The Arctic Schooner Bowdoin, 1921

The Bowdoin is now Maine's official state vessel and the flagship vessel of the Maine Maritime Academy

acrylic/mixed medium, 18"x 24"

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One hundred years ago in the fall of 1921 the Arctic Schooner Bowdoin, designed by its captain Admiral Donald B. MacMillan, completed the first leg of its maiden voyage on a research trip across the Arctic Circle. Built and launched in East Boothbay, Maine. The 88 foot two-masted Bowdoin was purposely built for Arctic exploration with ingenious adaptations to navigate and survive collisions with ice floes, including watertight bulkheads and a rounded hull to ride up on the ice that would crush a traditionally build hull. Between 1921 and 1954 the Bowdoin with captain Admiral McMillan, scientists and students made 26 research trips to the Arctic. She did a stint as a naval vessel stationed off Greenland during WW2, and became an educational vessel in the Gulf of Maine for much of the 1970's and 1980's.

Though the artist painted her, as she would have looked on her voyages in the 1920's, due to global warming, much has changed in the areas of Labrador and Greenland where the Bowdoin once sailed. It has seriously affected the ecology and habitat of the people and animals that live there.  While Polar Bears on board the Bowdoin sailing along with the crew is rather whimsical in intent it is also a reminder that we must learn to be good stewards of this planet we share and symbolically sail on together for our mutual well-being and survival.