Not only was I buying a building in which to house Harbor Square Gallery, but I was also acquiring a ‘vacant lot’ 24 feet in the air in the middle of the city with a water view - an area no one else seemed to see as an asset. My vision for the garden goes back to the first day I stepped into the building in 1995. O’Donovan comments, “The rooftop garden is my field of dreams: I knew if I built it, they would come. The Muir Garden for Contemporary Sculpture includes finely crafted furniture made by English and American furniture makers, such as Gaze Burvill, Douglas Thayer, and Weatherend. This led to a selection of a Winter King Hawthorne, a Summer Lilac tree, two River Birches, and the Seven Son Flower.ĭedicated to the late Maine artist Bryce Muir, the garden features a rotating exhibit of sculpture throughout the year, showcasing renowned sculptors from New England and around the world. Commanding a waterfront view of Rockland Breakwater and Lighthouse, Owls Head Peninsula, and the island of Vinalhaven, The Muir Garden for Contemporary Sculpture is designed as a destination where visitors are invited to sit and enjoy the sculpture and surroundings of well-appointed plantings, boxwood hedges and five majestic trees, some of which will stand 25 feet tall at maturity.Įmploying the expertise of landscape designer Rebecca Jacobs, O’Donovan chose a variety of trees that would complement the shapes, textures and materials of the sculpture, as well as provide shade and comfort to the public.

The Tree House by Douglas Thayer