Friends of Casco Bay partnered with our board member Deb Debiegun, a professor at the Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D), for her Ocean Currents class. These students immersed themselves in learning about the Bay’s dirty history, the progress we’ve made, and the challenges ahead.
Each student chose a topic to research—from PFAS contamination and plastic pollution to eelgrass restoration and the legacy of dry cleaning chemicals—and created an original piece of art inspired by their findings. Their mediums are just as varied as their subjects: from car-scrap sculptures and watercolor paintings to animations and videos exploring wastewater treatment.
We’re thrilled to share 14 of their artworks with you in this exhibit during the Past, Present, and Future of Casco Bay and Friends of Casco Bay Members’ Annual Meeting.
The Importance of Eelgrass
Click on an image to enlarge.
The Importance of Eelgrass
Emma Barry
2025
Digital art, printed zine
Emma Barry is an illustrator from Freeport, Maine. Growing up in Maine allowed Emma to develop a strong connection to the natural world, which informs much of her work. She finds illustration to be a great communication tool, using it to tell stories and spread information about topics she cares about, like environmental conservation. In the future, she hopes to continue finding ways to learn about and appreciate nature within her art practice.
Eelgrass is an incredibly important seagrass to the health of coastal ecosystems like Casco Bay. During my research process, I learned about the decline of eelgrass beds and restoration efforts. My goal for this zine was to highlight what makes eelgrass so valuable. This way, people would understand why the declines are concerning and why restoration efforts are important. I chose the zine format because it is a quick, engaging way to convey information. Zines are printed on a single sheet of paper so they are easy to duplicate and distribute, which is key when trying to spread a message.
Diatoms of the Gulf of Maine
Diatoms of the Gulf of Maine
Carly Browdy
2025
Digital (Photoshop) with analog watercolor elements
Carly Browdy is a junior at MECA&D, working towards a BFA in Illustration with a minor in Public Engagement. Her work uses illustration to spark connection, bridging people, ideas, and communities through accessible visual storytelling. Through playful graphics and bold colors, Carly aims to create inclusive work that invites joy, curiosity, and creative play into community spaces.
Diatoms of the Gulf of Maine is an educational poster that aims to show the beautiful, diverse individuality of diatoms while also increasing awareness of diatoms’ role in the marine ecosystem. These tiny organisms provide the basis for a healthy ecosystem both in the water and on land. This artwork comes from research on how climate change—a human-created issue—impacts diatoms. I wanted to create an educational poster to help identify some of the common diatoms in the Gulf of Maine by their scientific name. I chose watercolor because of diotoms’ fluid nature in aquatic environments. Ultimately, I want viewers to have a greater understanding of different diatoms in the Gulf of Maine, and their role in the carbon cycle and oxygen production—and to recognize that our survival is closely tied to theirs.
Hope in the Undertow
Hope in the Undertow
P.S. Creel
2025
Mixed-media, paper, yarn, found plastics and glass
P.S. Creel is a sculptural artist who focuses on 3-D pieces made from varying materials like yarn, metal, and paper. They hope to open an art gallery one day and exhibit their own and fellow artists’ work. They’ve always had a fascination with the environment and the beauty of nature.
Hope in the Undertow explores the intersection of environmental conservation and artistic expression, using found materials to illuminate pressing ecological issues while inspiring hope for change. For this piece, I have created a 1.5 x 2-foot mosaic composed of plastics and glass collected from Casco Bay’s shores, merging waste with artistry to depict an underwater eelgrass habitat. The scene features two crocheted bluefish, a horseshoe crab, an urchin, and a blue crab, set against a textured background of reclaimed plastic and glass. The eelgrass itself is rendered in contrasting states—some strands vibrant and healthy, others gray and frayed—symbolizing both the resilience and fragility of this vital ecosystem.
Eelgrass beds are the lifeblood of Maine’s coastal waters, nurturing marine species, stabilizing shorelines, and sequestering carbon. Yet they face mounting threats from pollution, habitat loss, and climate change. By transforming discarded debris into art, I highlight the urgent need for conservation while demonstrating the potential for renewal. This piece is not just a warning but a testament to what preservation can achieve—a call to action grounded in hope.
Through this work, I invite viewers to confront humanity’s impact while fostering a deeper connection to marine ecosystems. It is both a celebration of Casco Bay’s biodiversity and a plea to protect it. By merging education with visual storytelling, this project aims to inspire greater public involvement in protecting Maine’s underwater meadows before it’s too late.
The Firefighter and the Foam
The Firefighter and the Foam
Mac Craig
2025
Watercolor
Mac Craig is an Illustration major with the goal of becoming a freelance illustrator and cartoonist. They’ve always felt a connection to Casco Bay—shaped by time studying in Portland and childhood trips to Wells with grandparents.
The Firefighter and the Foam depicts the effects of the 2024 AFFF spill at Brunswick Landing. My intention for this piece is to evoke the apocalyptic feelings, the fear and confusion of the nearby residents who witnessed this event as well as illustrate the foam flowing into Casco Bay. I want to show the disarray that came with this spill in order to bring attention to AFFF, the harm it brings, and what actions are being taken to stop more events like this from happening.
About “forever chemicals” in AFFF:
Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) contains PFAS—synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment. PFAS from firefighting foam can contaminate soil, groundwater, and coastal waters like Casco Bay. These chemicals have been linked to serious health risks and are especially concerning for firefighters and communities near spill sites. The 2024 accidental release of 1,450 gallons of AFFF mixed with over 50,000 gallons of water at Brunswick’s former naval base marked the largest documented AFFF spill in Maine’s history.
Permeate and Seep (Uria aalge)
Permeate and Seep (Uria aalge)
Emerson Frost
2025
Acrylic paint
Emerson Frost is an illustrator who brings characters to life through sequential art inspired by fantasy, mythology, and folklore. Fascinated by birds and bugs, Emerson often features them in both their narrative work and acrylic paintings—ranging from semi-realistic to scientifically accurate—such as trail signs for Maine Audubon. Passionate about nature and conservation, especially seabirds, Emerson hopes their art inspires others to protect wildlife from threats like chemical and plastic pollution.
Increased attention has been given to plastic pollution and its effects on seabirds—but what about the quieter, often invisible threat of chemical contamination? For this project, I explored the impact of toxic chemicals and metal pollutants on seabirds, aiming to visualize the internal damage they suffer—harm that’s easy to overlook because it can’t be seen from the outside.
I focused on the Common Murre (Uria aalge), a species that has suffered massive die-offs, or “wrecks.” While causes vary, exposure to contaminants like methylmercury is a likely factor. With mercury levels rising along the Maine coast, this is no distant issue—it’s happening close to home.
Malaga Island Layers
Malaga Island Layers
Francy Hinds
2025
Sculpture, found wood, paint
Francy’s sculpture reflects on the 1912 eviction of Malaga Island’s mixed-race fishing community. Using layered driftwood to echo archaeological middens, her piece reclaims this history with beauty and dignity, inviting reflection and remembrance.
Malaga Island is one of hundreds of islands in Casco Bay, but the mistreatment of its prior inhabitants remains a significant stain on Maine’s history. In 1912, the entirety of the Malaga community was forcefully evicted from their island with the intent to build a resort over their homes and burial grounds. While the people were removed, foundations destroyed, and their burial grounds were desecrated, exhumed, and combined, the resort never came to fruition.
A little over a hundred years later, archeological research conducted by affiliates of USM revealed traces of the Malaga people in the sediment. They were able to observe cultural practices through the presence and prevalence of haddock, pollock, and other cod remains in the soil. The presence of these remains at varying depths revealed the consistency of these species through different time periods, while the treatment of them revealed culinary and hunting practices. Simultaneously, they were able to observe culture and ecology.
Malaga Island Layers references the divisions of these middens and the descendant discoveries found within their layers. The wood was sourced from debris collected during cleanup we did in our Ocean Currents class. The titles on each block reference the excavation sites, each named after a former inhabitant of the island.
Scarp
Scarp
D Islami
2025
Welded scrap metal
D Islami is a junior sculpture major at MECA&D who works at a mechanic shop on Long Island, NY, where he sources most of the welded metal for his art. Growing up on Long Island, D developed a close connection to the ocean, regularly visiting the beach for clamming and cleanups.
In my research into the automotive industry and its connection to pollution in the waters of Casco Bay, I was inspired to create a welded sculpture of a fish. Over spring break, I sourced materials from the mechanic shop where I work back on Long Island, NY. Using parts once intended for cars—an industry tied to pollution through exhaust emissions, microplastics from tires, and harmful chemicals like brake fluid and oil—I tell a story about how closely connected marine life and human industry have become.
I used a ball peen hammer to shape the metal into a fish-like form. The hammering process left a texture that reminds me of fish scales. I kept the species ambiguous and abstract, allowing viewers to see this as a representation not of a single fish, but of all aquatic life in Casco Bay.
Ocean Acidification
Click on the image to enlarge.
Ocean Acidification
Jay Leach
2025
Acrylic paint, watercolour paint, scrap wood
Jay Leach, a New Hampshire-based artist, has a love for art that has spanned her entire life, and she works in many different mediums, such as paint, wood, and yarn. She has an interest in climate change and has made several other climate and nature-based artworks, and this is her first ocean-related work. She plans on continuing to create climate-related work in the future about New England bodies of water and forests.
My intention for this project was to create something both explanatory and easy to understand. I wanted to use colours that popped and drew attention to the piece, which lead you to small blocks of text that are simple yet informative. Ocean acidification is something important for people to be aware of, since it’s affecting so many marine animals, which in turn affects us because we are the ones fishing for them and consuming them later on. I wanted to share just how bad ocean acidification is and share ways we can stop it.
The Hidden Impact of Stains
Madison Ostrowski
2025
Fabric, embroidery, acrylic paint, paint marker, glue, lip gloss, and other stains
Madison Ostrowski is an animator and textile artist interested in the relationship between artistic practice and its potential effects on the environment. In a time when environmental consciousness is becoming more prevalent, it is important to be mindful about how our actions may harm the world around us. Madison aims to explore this dichotomy and translate it into art that engages the viewer to reconsider how they themselves interact with our world.
The Hidden Impact of Stains focuses on carcinogenic solvents used in dry cleaning, many of which still persist today. One of the most common, Perchloroethylene (PERC), can leak into groundwater and air, posing serious health and environmental risks. While safer methods like wet cleaning—which uses biodegradable detergents and produces no hazardous emissions—are gaining ground, they are still far from becoming industry standard.
For this piece, I used entirely recycled materials, purposefully staining fabric and stitching it together by hand. I embroidered the names of various dry cleaning solvents, including some that have been phased out and others developed to replace PERC. The work serves as a physical reminder of how these chemicals—often hidden from view—can make their way into our watershed.
Through this piece, I hope to encourage the viewer to think about their relationship to the clothes they wear and how everyday practices, like dry cleaning, may carry unseen environmental costs.
Salt Runs in Casco Bay
Salt Runs in Casco Bay
Jo Ophardt
2025
Watercolors and road salt
Jo Ophardt was born in Phoenix, Arizona. They moved to Portland to pursue painting at the Maine College of Art & Design and found the New England attitude to be quite agreeable. They bike past Back Cove on their commute every day.
Road salt is something that we all depend on to get around safely, especially this winter. This measure of protection for our roadways can quickly make it into the surrounding water, affecting aquatic life. I collected road salt to repel pigments in watercolors, making a literal representation of sodium chloride changing the habitat of Casco Bay. I hope to show that every action we take on land is connected to the water around us.
Kelp prints
Untitled
Ashley Pelletier
2025
Soft ground etching and screen print
Ashley Pelletier is a recent graduate of the MECA&D printmaking department. Working primarily in etching, relief, and book binding, she creates pieces that cover a variety of topics, but has a particular interest in the natural world.
Using seaweed collected from Portland’s East End beach, my piece is a series of three soft ground etchings, with a screen print over top. The etchings become a visual representation of seaweed and kelp to draw the audience in. The silkscreen gives valuable information in a short format to get people interested and look more into the seaweed industry.
Wastewater Treatment Before Entering Casco Bay
Wastewater Treatment Before Entering Casco Bay
Eli Rivas
2025
Animation
Eli Rivas is an artist born and raised in New Hampshire. Growing up around the nature of New Hampshire has led to his desire to highlight different issues surrounding the damaging of natural environments. He makes 3D and interactive art at Maine College of Art & Design in the Animation & Game Art Department.
I found wastewater a particularly interesting topic because of how unknown it is to most people. Most people don’t think about the waste they flush down the toilet, or the grease and food scraps that go down the drain. This waste can be extremely dangerous for the coastal environment, causing a host of problems from illness in people to oxygen depletion in water environments. This work was made to inform audiences of how this waste is currently processed.
Fresh Catch
Fresh Catch
Rosalyn Trowbridge
2025
Ink and nib
Rosalyn Trowbridge is an animation student at Maine College of Art and Design with a passion for storytelling and illustrating nature and animals. Growing up in the woods of Vermont, Trowbridge remembers picking wild plants and catching fish and frogs during the summers.
This piece explores the effects of pollution and climate change on marine life in Casco Bay. Rising global temperatures have led to earlier phytoplankton blooms, which disrupt fish spawning cycles and impact seasonal catches. Microplastics harm fish health and reproduction, posing risks to the species and to the people who eat them. Meanwhile, inland dams block migratory fish from reaching safe spawning grounds. Combined, these pressures have led to long-term population declines, placing species like Atlantic salmon and sturgeon on endangered lists.
I chose to represent Atlantic salmon and sturgeon because they remain on the endangered species list in the wild. American shad once showed signs of recovery, but today their numbers in the harbor are uncertain. So before you visit the fish market for salmon or cod, ask yourself, “What was that fish exposed to before it landed on your plate?”
Shorelines: Past, Present, and Future
Click on the images to enlarge.
Shorelines: Past, Present, and Future
Caine Villarreal
2025
Pen on watercolor paper
Caine Villarreal is a Portland-based artist who loves collaboration and community. Originally from Montana, he didn’t have much of a relationship or opinion of the ocean, but now that he lives in Portland, he has learned more about the ocean and Casco Bay and is learning how to better take care of this new home. He hopes to make art that uplifts different voices and brings awareness to different issues or experiences.
My goal with this research topic and art piece was to discover something hopeful. In a world where there is much uncertainty about the future and climate change, I wanted to look for hopeful options that could be steps towards a brighter future. I hope that people leave my art feeling curious and hopeful, curious enough to see if a living shoreline could work for them or how they could help.
What is a living shoreline?
A living shoreline is a natural approach to protecting the coast. Instead of hard structures like seawalls, it uses materials such as marsh plants, logs, and rocks to reduce erosion, absorb wave energy, and support wildlife. Caine’s drawings reflect this hopeful strategy—one that helps coastal communities adapt to climate change while restoring habitat along places like Casco Bay.
The Invasive European Green Crab
Seal logo
Seal Logo
Derek Boing
2025
Digital illustration
Derek’s logo of a seal stems from his research into how pollution, past hunting practices, and disease have impacted harbor seals along Maine’s coast, showing how these predators serve as indicators of ecosystem health.
