UNE’s Andy Rosen unveils public art display along the Portland waterfront

It is a work of art that changes with the tides.

Andy Rosen, adjunct professor in the Department of Creative and Fine Arts, recently unveiled his public art display next to the Ocean Gateway terminal in Portland.

His project, named TREAD, depicts a pair of deer walking on stilts among an abandoned piling field in Casco Bay. His work was featured recently featured on WCSH’s 207 and in a Portland Press Herald article.

The temporary sculptural installation calls attention to climate change and rising sea levels. The scene evolves as the tides change. At low tide the deer are perched upon stilts, but at high tide they swim for their survival.

“They’re in the water and it is about sea level rise, but its more about how we understand that and the implications in real spaces," Rosen told WCSH.

Rosen spent several months working on the project at his studio in South Portland and at a friend’s hangar at the Sanford Airport. The hangar space was needed because of the height of the deer on stilts.

Hattie Welch (M.S.O.T., ’18), assisted Rosen on the project.

The University of New England’s Department of Creative and Fine Arts and Department of Marine Sciences contributed funding for the project.

TREAD will remain up through November.