Portland Artist Raises Eyebrows With New Sculpture In Harbor

If you're walking by the Ocean Gateway marine facility, don't be alarmed if you see some deer standing neck-high in the water.

Or do be alarmed; after all, that's kinda the point.

Andy Rosen of Maine was inspired to create the sculpture project, which he titled "TREAD," as part of the Art for Science Rising effort. Only six artists or artist collectives across the country were selected by the Union of Concerned Scientists to receive a $10,000 grant to create an environmentally thoughtful art installation. Rosen's is the first of the six to open; other projects include an outdoor mural, video projections, billboards and highway signs, according to the Press Herald.

Rosen hopes the sculptures will make people stop and consider the plight of animals and nature to keep up with climate change. "I'm attempting to imagine the experience of others being displaced and 'making do' with one's circumstances. The deer are young teenagers capable of making decisions and also getting into trouble via those decisions."

Rosen claims to be creating a new theme that helps everyone understand our complicated relationship with the nature world.

"[It's] one we enjoy and celebrate and at the same time use and ignore," Rosen said.[/pullquotes]

Does Rosen have another project on the horizon? "Always," Rosen says. "But nothing specific yet."