We’re abuzz with the news of a new neighbor. The Center for Maine Contemporary Art announced last week that it’s moving to downtown Rockland – a stone’s throw from the Strand Theater and the Farnsworth Art Museum, and right across the street from Evergreen Home Performance. Restaurants and galleries line the streets, along with cafes and shops that cater to locals and tourists alike.
It’s no surprise that CMCA is joining this vibrant downtown scene, and it’s no surprise that we’re happy to welcome them. In the story of Rockland’s renaissance, art and the economy are intertwined – and the same is true for the story of Evergreen Home Performance.
Evergreen’s founder and President, Richard Riegel Burbank, came to Midcoast Maine to pursue art, not energy efficiency. As a photography student at Maine Media Workshops + College he fell in love with the beauty of the coast and the vitality of the community. The spark he first felt as an art student kept Burbank coming back to the Midcoast, even after a stint in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu.
Seven years ago, he became one of the first Building Analysts certified by the Building Performance Institute in Maine, and founded Evergreen Home Performance in downtown Rockland. Today, Evergreen is an energy efficiency audits and contracting company with a staff of 24 and a record of cutting home energy costs by an average of 25-50%. Evergreen employs photographers, graphic designers, and writers, as well as its core staff of BPI-certified energy analysts and contractors.
It’s no wonder that the head of the National Endowment for the Arts was so impressed with Rockland when he visited last year. “Rockland is really the poster child for the NEA in how the arts can be used to revitalize neighborhoods,” said Rocco Landesman, who stepped down as NEA chair in January.
We’re in an incredibly vital neighborhood these days, and we’re thrilled to welcome CMCA!
