The sculptures known as “the pinkies” depart Payson Park in Portland on a flatbed truck driven by Thomas Richards of Bancroft Contracting Corporation en route to artist Pamela Moulton’s studio in Norway. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer If you saw a 40-foot trailer on Interstate 95 Tuesday hauling three hot pink sculptures that look straight out of a Dr. Seuss book, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you.
Artist Pamela “Posey” Moulton installed the works of art, called “Beneath the Forest, Beneath the Sea,” in Portland’s Payson Park two years ago through the nonprofit TempoArt. The brightly colored behemoths made an immediate impact in their neighborhood, where some fell in love and others scratched their heads. But the project was never meant to be permanent, and this June was their planned expiration date.
So on Tuesday, Moulton moved them from the park to her workspace at Lights Out Gallery in Norway . The day was not a sad one, however. Moulton plans to freshen up the sculptures she affectionately calls “the pinkies” and bring them to a to-be-announced new home.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I feel like they’re in their teenage stage now.” Still, moving sculptures that stand as tall as 17 feet is no small feat.
The process required five people, a forklift and a 40-foot trailer. Thomas Richards, who drove the trailer from Bancroft Contracting, said he had never hauled anything quite like this. “I’ll call the office,” he said as he eyed hi.