Video footage of artist Pigeon creating charcoal drawing of Mandela in downtown Bangor

Local artist Pigeon — a.k.a. Orson Horchler — is best known for the wheat pasted drawings that for the past two years he’s been putting up in different corners of downtown Bangor. Mike Ogilvie, also a Bangor resident, has for the past few years been shooting and editing videos documenting life in Bangor — most notably his videos of the Bangor Zombie Walk and his “Harlem Shake” video last winter.

Last Saturday, Pigeon took to downtown Bangor again, this time to create a temporary charcoal mural dedicated to the memory and legacy of recently-deceased South African leader Nelson Mandela. On a retaining wall on Franklin Street outside Penobscot County Jail Horchler drew a portrait of Mandela sent “from Bangor to Cape Town” coupled with a quote that read, “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it’s an act of justice.”

pigeon mandela“[I wanted to] honor Mandela’s passing and bring his global message about poverty home to Maine,” said Horchler.

 

Ogilvie was on hand to document the process, a YouTube video of which was put up online Thursday afternoon.

Horchler was issued a summons by the Bangor Police Department for criminal mischief for his charcoal drawing, though the summoning officer said that if he washed the artwork off by 4 p.m. that day he’d dismiss the summons. He washed the charcoal off at 3:30 p.m.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.