A Pinky, one of three sculptures fashioned from commercial fishing line and gear salvaged from Portland Harbor, stands May 14 at the Shepard’s Farm Preserve trailhead in Norway. Other Pinkies have been installed farther back in the woods at the preserve. (Nicole Carter/Staff Writer)
Shepard’s Farm Preserve at 121 Crockett Ridge Road in Norway is the new home for The Pinkies — three magenta-colored salvage art sculptures that stand 9 to 14 feet tall each.
One Pinky is ensconced at the trailhead on Crockett Ridge Road, with its two counterparts set farther along the trail in the woods.
The Pinkies installation was made possible through a collaborative effort between one of The Pinkies’ creators, Pamela “Posey” Moulton, and Western Foothills Land Trust and Lights Out Gallery, both based in Norway.
“We’re excited to have The Pinkies here at Shepard’s Farm,” said Korey Morgan, executive director of Western Foothills Land Trust. “They’re striking and thought-provoking, and the landscape creates a truly one-of-a-kind aesthetic experience. We hope these pieces bring new visitors to Shepard’s Farm who will connect with both the art and the natural world.”
The Pinkies began as a community art project in 2022, led by Moulton and her partner, Roy Fox, of Bridgton, and was installed at Payson Park in Portland. More recently, it could be seen at Freeport Town Hall.
This is the second Norway stop for the sculptures; in 2024 they were brought to Lights Out Gallery on Tannery Street where local youth collaborated to touch them up and add new color schemes.
The underbelly of a Pinky, a community art project on display May 14 at Shepard’s Farm Preserve in Norway. (Nicole Carter/Staff Writer)
Moulton also used the space at Lights Out Gallery to create a second set of fishing gear, the multicolored Tangle. She serves as vice president on the Lights Out Gallery board of directors.
“This installation is part of a broader effort to bring more bold, engaging public art to western Maine,” said Daniel Sipe, executive director of Lights Out Gallery. “We see art like The Pinkies as a way to connect people to place, spark conversation and continue to build vibrant and accessible arts across Maine.”
Moulton’s and Fox’s sculptures have included collaboration from thousands of Mainers on the water and on land — fisherman, equipment operators, transporters, volunteer sorters and cleaners, as well as people of all ages pitching in to create them.
Materials used include tons of rope, cable and netting collected through a Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation turnover program. It is up to Moulton to retrieve what she needs from mounds left on Portland’s working waterfront.
During a 2023 Tangle work party at Lights Out Gallery, Moulton said it takes excavators to break into the refuse before she can sort and move it to her storage barn in Bridgton.
“It’s a disgusting, black blob,” she explained of her starting point. “It’s filled with dead fish and trash, it’s tangled and pretty hideous. I have to rent a box truck to get it to my studio.
“Then we have to cut it all into pieces, separate it from weights and any wire cable, and clean it,” which means power washing, often in a bay at self-serve car washes.
It takes many hands to prepare underwater fishing gear for a future as three-dimensional art. Students in the graphic design program at Oxford Hills Technich School in South Paris have been among the artists who help pull and cut it into workable pieces.
The Pinkies arrived at Shepard’s Farm last month.
“It was incredibly heartwarming to see volunteers, the Lights Out family and community partners come together to make this installation such a smooth success,” Moulton said. “I’m discovering just how much of a following The Pinkies have, and I’m excited for them to bring that joy to the Norway and western Maine community.”
Sipe said the organizations are planning community programs around the sculptures to further engage the public with them and with Moulton’s vision to reflect on climate change, marine ecosystems and Maine’s working waterfronts.
“We, and the land trust, encourage people to explore Shepard’s Farm Preserve and experience The Pinkies firsthand,” he said.
