The Pinkies, whose first names are Petula, Winkie and Crabby, will stay in Freeport for one year, following a two-year-long installation in Portland. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

Late afternoon on Oct. 11, a pink-clad crowd gathered at Freeport Town Hall, enjoying pink lemonade and beet-dyed deviled eggs on the lawn as the timeless Abba classic “Dancing Queen” blared in the background.

Rooted with the birch trees near the parking lot entrance, three funky sculptures — named Petula, Winkie and Crabby by Freeport students but known collectively as the “Pinkies” — stand 9 feet, 11 inches tall, allowing admirers to filter between their legs, an amalgamation of miscellaneous fishing gear, nets and ropes. The year-long installation created by artist Pamela “Posey” Moulton aims to spark community conversation on the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and working waterfronts.

“I was afraid they would shock people in front of Town Hall, but they’re really sort of sweet over there,” Moulton said.

People gathered on Oct. 11 to enjoy dancing, pink foods and don frilled accessories in honor of the Pinkies’ newfound home at Freeport Town Hall. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

Some may recognize the Pinkies from Payson Park in Portland, where they lived for the past two years before disappearing early this summer. The environmental artist, who built her style by working with materials she found, said she had previously done some work in the schools in town and eventually got connected with Meetinghouse Arts, a Freeport-based organization instrumental in securing the Pinkies’ new home.

For the past three months, Moulton said she has been working on them back at her Lights Out studio to rebuild and repaint them. She said she wanted to ensure that the fishing net was showing to highlight the fishing community. Once the delivery date to Freeport was set, a structure was built to transport the Pinkies to their new yearlong home.

Described as “huggable pink sculptures,” the creature-like installations are made from bits and pieces gathered from recycling centers and coastal cleanup efforts led by Maine fishermen, nonprofit organizations and volunteers. Moulton said at the unveiling that the color pink has many meanings and purposes in the design — it is the color of joy and happiness and pairs well with green grass. She also described it as the color of climate change, as some Arctic ice and snow is turning pink due to algae growth prompted by faster melting and warmer climate.

Artist Pamela “Posey” Moulton, the environmental creative behind the Pinkies, chats with visitors on Oct. 11. She said that the color pink has many layers, ranging from feelings of joy and happiness to references to natural pink phenomena in the natural world causing rapid ice melt in the Artic. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

“I feel like these sculptures are my children, you know, and you, like, worry about them when they are flying down the highway at 60 mph,” she joked.

Now rooted in a town famous for its retail, all three Pinkies hope to remind residents — or those just passing through — about the working waterfront based in Freeport and how climate change impacts the community.

For Susan Olcott of Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the installation welcomes conversation on the intersection between working waterfronts and working against climate change.

“We’re really proud of what may seem to be an unlikely partnership here with arts and industry, but the Pinkies really create an opportunity to spark new conversations between community members about the shared values that we all have about the health of the gulf of Maine, whether you’re a fisherman or a paddler or a swimmer or you just like to look at the beautiful ocean or enjoy seafood,” Olcott said at the unveiling.

Olcott said that Moulton worked closely with fishermen to source materials, which can be costly — traps can average about $200 and nets range from $5,000–$15,000. She added that fishermen work hard to keep their gear from becoming unusable. The cost to purchase new gear alone pushes them to try to maintain and prevent lost materials. She also said it is costly to put these materials in a landfill.

For Kathleen Sullivan from Freeport Climate Action Now, the Pinkies pose several questions about the preservation of Maine’s coastal waters and the resources that come from them. Some problems Sullivan noted included Maine’s declining eelgrass populations, the fact that the Gulf of Maine is warming fast, spurring questions about what resources working waterfronts will need in the face of climate change.

A man studies a “Pinky” — an abstract art installation at Freeport Town Hall meant to spark conversations about climate change — at the Pinkies celebration party Friday, Oct. 11. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

“The Pinkies offer us a way to reflect in particular on one of those ecosystems that sits at our side and offers us such beauty and respite, not to mention food and sustenance: the ocean,” Sullivan said at the event. She also noted that the new installation was a time together to celebrate but also to preface much-needed action in order to preserve “planet home.”

For others, the installation is simply a fun reflection of all the great things Freeport has to offer. Resident Marlene DiMarco-Hammond, who came by to admire one of the Pinkies Friday afternoon, said she has been in the town for 15 years total and that the art events that Meetinghouse Arts brings to the community has made the place she loves even better. The Pinkies, which she described as an “explosion of pink,” was placed in the right community.

“I can’t wait to bring my grandkids,” DiMarco-Hammond said. ” … I love how much it just keeps growing, the art community in Freeport.”

The installation can be found at 30 Main St. in Freeport and will be a fixture of the town until October 2025.