Experience Maine's changing coast through sound, sight, taste, and touch.
Sensing the Coast: An Art-Science Collaboration is an immersive exhibition that transforms scientific research into interactive artistic experiences. Through contemporary art, environmental data, drone photography, and community engagement projects, visitors are invited to explore Maine's coastal ecosystems in entirely new ways.
Inspired by the state's coastlines, bays, and estuaries, the exhibition demonstrates how scientific tools extend human perception and help us better understand the natural world. Artists and scientists have worked together to translate complex environmental datasets into multisensory experiences that make coastal science accessible, engaging, and memorable.
Friday, July 10, 2026
5:00–8:00 PM
Join us for the exhibition opening featuring:
A generative video installation that transforms ocean temperature data from Massachusetts Bay into a shimmering, ever-changing visual experience.
An interactive mixed-media environment inspired by hands-on science exhibits, translating 48 hours of oceanographic data into a playful, exploratory installation viewed through a handmade telescope.
A 12-minute string quintet based entirely on weather data collected in Penobscot Bay between 2014 and 2019. Every note, tempo change, and musical gesture corresponds directly to measured environmental conditions.
A participatory installation inviting visitors to experience changes in the Wells Harbor Inlet estuary through recipes derived from water-quality measurements recorded at specific moments in time.
Faculty and students from the University of New England, including Dr. Will Kochtitzky and Dr. Jennifer Brousseau, will present drone photography documenting Biddeford's evolving coastline, alongside a community-driven climate collage project.
The exhibition began as a partnership between students in the University of Maine's School of Earth and Climate Sciences and School of Marine Sciences, working with Dr. Jiaze Wang, and graduate students in the Intermedia course Data Translation, taught by artist and educator Lindsey French.
Science students shared observational datasets from locations across the Maine coast, while artists transformed those datasets into creative works that make scientific information experiential and accessible.
The project has since expanded to include faculty and students from the University of New England, community climate engagement initiatives, Heart of Biddeford, Art of Biddeford, and the City of Biddeford's Public Art and Sustainability Commissions.
Presenting the exhibition in Biddeford places the work within a coastal community directly experiencing many of the environmental changes represented in the featured datasets.
Friday, July 10
5:00–8:00 PM
Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays
Noon–4:00 PM
July Art Walk
Friday, July 17
5:00–8:00 PM
Location
Building 13, Pepperell Mill Campus
Biddeford, Maine
Dates
July 10–30, 2026
Admission
Free and open to the public
Exhibition space has been generously provided by Pepperell Mill Campus developer Todd Finard of Core Finard.
The project is supported by a University of Maine Arts Initiative Seed Grant and the Student Community Outreach Program Experience through the University of Maine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. University of Maine science students' participation is supported by the Maine Space Grant Consortium and the Maine SMART project through the National Science Foundation. Contributions from the University of New England are supported by the Maine Coastal and Marine Climate Fund and the University of New England. About Art of Biddeford Art of Biddeford, a program of Heart of Biddeford, supports artists, fosters creative entrepreneurship, and strengthens community through accessible arts programming, exhibitions, and public events.
