WATERVILLE — A graphite drawing of a woman holding a gargoyle by Waterville artist Brian Vigue was stolen from the 26th annual Maine Juried Art Show at Waterville Public Library and police are investigating.
“Alive in the Darkness,” a 12-inch-by-16-inch black and white drawing with a gray mat and silver metal frame, was likely taken sometime Thursday, as library employees check the art show each night before closing, according to Library Director Sarah Sugden.
Sugden said she is sick about the theft, which was discovered by an employee doing rounds.
“We find it really distressing and really disappointing that this has happened,” Sugden said late Thursday afternoon at the library. “We hold a responsibility to keep these precious artworks safe.”
Vigue co-owns The Framemakers downtown with his wife, Amy Cyrway, who is president of the Waterville Area Art Society, which presents the show along with the library and Waterville Main Street. More than 100 works by artists from all over the state are on display on the first floor of the library in an area known as the fireplace room. Vigue’s piece was hanging with other works on the second partition as one enters the room.
Vigue was home sick Thursday, but Cyrway was at the library, speaking with Sugden and later with Waterville police Officer Matt Libby, who arrived shortly after Sugden reported the theft.
“I know he’s going to be very upset,” Cyrway said of her husband.
Later, Vigue said in a phone interview that he was disheartened to learn his drawing had been stolen.
“It’s the first time it’s happened to me,” he said. “It was not good news to receive.”
Vigue worked four months on the piece, which bore a price tag of $300 at the show.
His wife said she will do everything possible to try to recover the piece.
“I had artwork stolen before, 13 years ago, and it’s a violation because you put your heart and soul into something like that and someone just takes it, and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Also an artist, Cyrway said she and Vigue work on art wherever they go and whenever they have time off.
“He’s very detail oriented,” she said. “We work on art at home. He worked on it pretty much everywhere we went. When he had a break at work he worked on it.”
Works at the juried art show were judged March 20 and prizes were awarded. The stolen drawing did not receive an award.
A Vigue piece is given each year to the business that wins Waterville Main Street’s Business of the Year Award. Vigue said he learned Wednesday that the City Council may consider curbing funding to Waterville Main Street, and if that occurs, it could mean elimination of the award as well. So in addition to being sick for several days, Vigue has received two pieces of distressing news, he said.
Meanwhile, Sugden says she feels responsible for the theft because the library hosts the show. Measures are being taken to try to ensure further pieces are not stolen, she said.
“I’m sorry,” she told Cyrway. “I’m so sorry.”
Sugden said a historical photo disappeared from a first floor wall at the library last month and has not been recovered. It was not part of the art show, which opened March 20 and continues until April 22.
Sugden planned to post a notice at the library with a photo of Vigue’s stolen piece, asking anyone who may have seen it to contact police.
The show features oils, watercolors, pastels, acrylics and other media. Awards are funded mostly through sponsorship donations from the Art Society, Colby College Museum of Art, The Framemakers, Kennebec Savings Bank, Maine State Credit Union and other sources.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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