The Gear Project

The New England Mosaic Society virtual exhibition at the Charles River Museum of Industry.Waltham,MA. The gears will be installed at the Ruins Project in PA this spring.https://ruins.sagermosaics.com/ My gear honors the legacy of coal which built our industries but often at a price. The red glass is symbolic of lives lost in mine disasters and is surrounded by hematite named after the greek word for blood and sometimes called the Iron Rose. Each section of the gear contains a piece of polished jet, which is lignite coal and used in Victorian times in mourning jewelry. The rose in the center is an enduring symbol of passion but also of sacrifice.

Rising from the Rails

The story that inspired the Saco Transportation murals appears in "Rising from the Rails", by Larry Tye, chapter 5! There are many good resources for learning more about the important history of the Pullman Porters. You can start learning more

about them by watching these videos available online: “Miles of Smiles,Years of Struggle” “The Road Taken” “Ordinary Men,Extraordinary History"

STEAM for transportation history!

 A big thanks to the Sedgwick Elementary School students and their teacher,

jeweler Sarah Doremus for acting as "testers" on a cardboard cable car model project I designed for the Seashore Trolley Museum.  They did a spectacular job and I really appreciate their feedback.

Pullman Porter story mural installed!

We were finally able to install the two mural panes created by students in the APEX afterschool program.They illustrate a true story about some white children playing baseball in a field in Freeport in 1918. One of the boys hit a fly ball that happened to coincide with a train enroute to Halifax,Nova Scotia.A tall black Pullman Porter standing in the vestibule caught the ball and that started a relationship between a group of young,white children and possibly the only black man they ever met. Stop by and see the murals! On view from the Train platform 24/7. Thanks to the City of Saco for supporting this installation! and to Andrew Dickinson for these photographs.