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A muffin a day
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BY DARLA L. PICKETT
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 08/10/2008

SKOWHEGAN -- A little known fact is that it costs $9,000 to serve a free muffin in perpetuity at Empire Grill.

Such is the plan behind the Sham Foundation Muffin Endowment, which in May sponsored the first free muffin giveaway, according to Thomas Miller. He and co-owner Kerry Pomelow reopened the downtown eatery in April 2007.

But the man behind the muffin idea is James Sham, doing a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in East Madison, who formed the foundation with the intent to raise enough money to "provide a muffin a day in perpetuity -- as in forever," Miller said.

To do so, Sham solicited money from business people up and down the Skowhegan streets. He even got a contribution from Ed Harris, the well-known actor who starred in the HBO movie "Empire Falls," which was filmed at the diner -- remodeled by filmmakers for the movie. Paul Newman also contributed; however he's a copyright lawyer, not the actor.

"You wouldn't believe the people the people he collected from," Miller said. "He put the money in a five-year (certificate of deposit) at 3.2 percent, almost $9,000 to create a 70-cent-a-day muffin to give away at our cost. Usually you hear of endowments of millions for things like college and orphanages. This is simply to give away one muffin a day."

Sham, a sculptor, looks beyond the ordinary in his vision of the world and art.

The unusual muffin endowment is one of what Sham calls "interactive performances" that help him in his search for "how the rules shift between the macro and micro scale of human activity." His full statement of intent can be found on his Web site at www.jamessham.com. Click on Sham's name in the photo.

In Charlottesville, Va. , during 2007, Sham had himself publicly locked in stocks for seven days and could only leave if a community member volunteered to take his place, anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. He was often out of the pillories, according to his Web site.

In another performance , in Richmond, Va., in 2006, he swept a line of debris across the city, encountering various reactions, from anger, to people who offered to help.

Contacted by telephone last week, the 25-year-old Sham said he was on his way through town to do his residency at the Skowhegan art school last summer when he spotted the Empire Grill.

"I recognized the sign (from the movie) and was shocked. I went to the diner first, I was late for the residency," he said. "It was shocking to see what I had just seen on the big screen. The place had that kind of quality; it felt like I was in a set. Yet I walked outside, and it was completely real, the intersection of fact and fiction was very, very exciting to me."

Sham said the real consequences and the images of what the diner had meant for the town struck him and he decided on the muffin endowment for his next performance.

"I'm into creating interaction that begin with the mundane," he said. "As it accumulates over time, over the breadth of people who become involved, then it becomes extraordinary. I wanted to do something real simple and create an ongoing gesture of kindness that was really simple and would last forever."

Sham said he just allows the event to happen without deciding its conclusion.

"It provides an opportunity for things to either fail, or proliferate, or become corrupt," he said. "When (Miller) said, 'Can I use this to market my diner?' I said use it however you want -- completely low key or for the local economy, it's completely in your hands."

Sham, who has a lengthy resume that can be viewed from his Web site, said he was born in Canada.

"I was in Hong Kong a little bit; when I was 17, I moved to Greece, I was there a little over a year. I bounced around Europe and ended up (back in the U.S.) in college," Sham said. He obtained his undergraduate degree in philosophy and studio art in 2005 Magna Cum Laude, from Dartmouth College and a master's of fine art degree in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Currently, he is on his way to Houston to do a residency at the Museum of Fine Arts there.

Later this month, maybe as soon as next week, Sham said he will present to the Empire Grill a bronze cast plaque he created with all the names of people who donated to the muffin endowment.

Miller, in the meantime, said he rotates the privilege of giving away the muffin to his wait staff.

"It's whatever criteria they choose -- with a ceremony, without a ceremony; to a regular customer, a new customer. They choose when and how," he said.

Waiter Jason Poulin said he gets all sorts of reactions, from " 'I don't like muffins,' to 'I'm watching my carbs' ... a lot of people wonder why it's free."

Miller said recipients come "from all walks of life -- from locals to tourists; you don't really have to qualify."

Waiter Shawn Boilard said: "Most people usually smile and say thank you."

If the restaurant closes or the plan needs to change, members of the foundation will reconvene and vote whether to fold, distribute the cash among themselves or pursue another cause, Miller said.

Miller, who said he and Pomelow have preserved the restaurant as closely as possible to the movie set, continue to market their homemade fare such Kale soup -- a local favorite. They use farmer's market items when possible, he said, and have won local contests for the Best Burger, Best Breakfast and Best Coffee over the last year .

And, don't forget the muffins, baked fresh throughout the day, including chocolate, cinnamon, blueberry, cranberry-orange, butter rum and raisin bran, he said.

"We make them fresh several times a day," said Miller. "The endowment is fascinating and whimsical. To say you're a member of the endowment (club) sounds pretty good. To be a recipient of the Sham Foundation Muffin Endowment sounds even better. "

Darla L. Pickett -- 474-9534, Ext. 341

dpickett@centralmaine.com

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