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Maine's hidden 'Sistine Chapel' inspires artists with 70-year-old frescoes

Located in Maine, the South Solon building’s interior showcases fresco murals created by 13 artists in the 1950s, now nearly 70 years old.
Originally built in 1842 and used for church services until the 1940s, the meeting house fell into disuse before the fresco project began in 1951.
Margaret Day Blake, a former Skowhegan School student, organized the frescoes under the school's supervision and allowed artists full creative freedom to depict mostly Biblical scenes.
Artists Sigmund Abeles and Sidney Hurwitz, both in their 90s, nostalgically describe the experience as a peaceful and charming period, and the murals feature an homage to the famous Renaissance depiction of the final meal shared by Jesus and his disciples.
The meeting house operates as an open community space, and a website by Colby College students has renewed public interest, with local art educators noting the murals still inspire viewers today.

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Maine’s hidden ‘Sistine Chapel’ inspires artists with 70-year-old frescoes

SOLON, Maine (AP) — From the outside, it looks like any other New England church building: a boxy, white structure with a single steeple surrounded by an old stone wall, set against rolling hills and pine forest. Inside, though, the South Solon Meeting House has a secret unknown even to some who drive through the tiny Maine town every day. The interior of the building is covered in 70-year-old fresco murals that encourage some in the state’s art…

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