Maine Atlas, the Office of the Maine Secretary of State
Interior of a small church or meetinghouse with wooden pews, featuring dramatic floor-to-ceiling murals covering the walls and ceiling with swirling figures, landscapes, and mythological imagery in earthy reds, blues, and greens.

South Solon Meeting House

Photo: Penobscot Marine Museum

At an unassuming rural crossroads 11 miles northwest of Skowhegan sits a white clapboarded building built in 1842. The South Solon Meeting House was a place for the community to gather for events, religious worship, and municipal meetings. By the 1940s, the Gothic Revival–style meetinghouse was rarely used and deteriorating. Then, in the 1950s, it experienced a revival of its own.

Arts benefactor Margaret Day Blake was attending the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (see Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture) when she visited the South Solon Meeting House and was moved to provide funds for restoration of the building and a transformative art project.

When people enter the meetinghouse today, they might not notice at first the original box pews, the choir loft with pump organ, or the stairs leading up to the pulpit because from floor to ceiling in every direction are brilliantly painted murals. Depicting mostly biblical scenes, these murals were painted into wet plaster, a technique called fresco that is closely associated with Renaissance Italy and works like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The meetinghouse’s fresco murals were painted between 1952 and 1956 by 13 artists associated with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where the fresco technique was taught. Several of the artists later gained national recognition, among them Ashley Bryan, who would eventually settle in Maine and become one of the state’s most beloved artists (see Ashley Bryan).

South Solon Meeting House is open to the public and is still being used for community events. The building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and its frescos, are under the care of the Solon Historical Society.

Author: Stephanie Bouchard

South Solon Meeting House
Interior view looking along the side wall and curved ceiling of the mural-covered meetinghouse, showing swirling painted figures on a blue and gold ceiling and sketched biblical scenes on the walls above the box pews.
Interior view looking along the side wall and curved ceiling of the mural-covered meetinghouse, showing swirling painted figures on a blue and gold ceiling and sketched biblical scenes on the walls above the box pews. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Interior side-wall view of the meetinghouse showing partially completed mural sketches depicting figures, flames, and symbolic imagery in muted grays and pinks, with box pews below and a dynamic ceiling mural above.
Interior side-wall view of the meetinghouse showing partially completed mural sketches depicting figures, flames, and symbolic imagery in muted grays and pinks, with box pews below and a dynamic ceiling mural above. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Interior view toward the rear of the meetinghouse, showing a balcony framed by colorful figurative murals above and below, with dynamic ceiling paintings of figures in motion overhead.
Interior view toward the rear of the meetinghouse, showing a balcony framed by colorful figurative murals above and below, with dynamic ceiling paintings of figures in motion overhead. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Close-up of the meetinghouse ceiling mural, dominated by a large painted face with closed eyes at center, surrounded by swirling blue and gold tones and small figures in motion.
Close-up of the meetinghouse ceiling mural, dominated by a large painted face with closed eyes at center, surrounded by swirling blue and gold tones and small figures in motion. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Interior view of a small meetinghouse with box pews, its walls and curved ceiling covered in sweeping murals depicting figures, landscapes, and dramatic scenes in earthy reds, blues, and greens.
Interior view of the altar with box pews, its walls and curved ceiling covered in sweeping murals depicting figures, landscapes, and dramatic scenes in earthy reds, blues, and greens. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
A large figurative mural on the curved interior wall of the meetinghouse depicting a congregation of men, women, and children in 19th-century dress, with a person taking notes at a small table in the foreground.
A large figurative mural on the curved interior wall of the meetinghouse depicting a congregation of men, women, and children in 19th-century dress. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Close-up detail of three vertical panels of the meetinghouse murals showing densely painted botanical and natural forms in dark greens, blacks, and rusty reds.
Close-up detail of three vertical panels of the meetinghouse murals showing densely painted botanical and natural forms in dark greens, blacks, and rusty reds. Photo by Sarah Hansen.
Three-quarter exterior view of the same white Gothic Revival church in winter, showing the front facade and side elevation with snow on the ground and a stone wall in the foreground.
Exterior of the meetinghouse. Photo by Sarah Hansen.

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