NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A nine-foot-tall whale tail, a six-foot-long salmon, a ten-foot-tall seahorse and a thirty-foot-long bleached coral reef, all made from ocean garbage, will draw attention to the global issue of plastic pollution in the ocean at the United Nations Ocean Conference, June 5-9, 2017, at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
The highly detailed massive sculptures, created by the non-profit organization Washed Ashore of Bandon, Oregon, will be placed in United Nations Plaza and in the United Nations’ landmark building, where they will help to focus attention and visually support discussions during the Conference around the United Nations Clean Seas Campaign.
Discarded toothbrushes, combs, detergent bottles, nets, lighters, polystyrene foam and toys can be seen on the sculptures and remind us that we are all a part of the problem and can be a part of the solution.
Since its founding in 2010 by Lead Artist and Executive Director Angela Haseltine Pozzi, Washed Ashore has turned twenty tons of garbage into more than seventy pieces of art.
“Our mission is to use the power of the arts to draw attention to the serious environmental issue of plastic pollution and educate the public as to what we can all do to help save our oceans and waterways,” said Haseltine Pozzi. “We are proud to support the United Nations Clean Seas Campaign by bringing these four works of art to the Ocean Conference,” she added.
With artwork currently on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and three Traveling Exhibits that visit zoos, museums and aquariums throughout the country, Washed Ashore’s educational art has become known as a unique, highly effective and unforgettable way to shed a light on the threat to our ocean and waterways, encouraging a change in consumer habits.
Recently the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted funds to Washed Ashore to help create an Integrated Arts Marine Debris Curriculum which is available free to educational organizations and individuals on the Washed Ashore website, http://washedashore.org/iamdc/.
Washed Ashore’s presence at the Ocean Conference is sponsored by Wild Rivers Coast Alliance, Norwex, and private donors Kirk and Elizabeth Day in loving memory of their brother Norman F. Sprague III, M.D.
About Washed Ashore:
The Washed Ashore Project is sponsored by Artula Institute for Arts and Environmental Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Angela Haseltine Pozzi. Washed Ashore’s mission is to build and exhibit aesthetically powerful art to educate a global audience about plastic pollution in the ocean and waterways and to spark positive changes in consumer habits. Thousands of volunteers and partners collect and process tons of marine debris into monumental sculptures that now make up the Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea Traveling Exhibits.
For more information about Washed Ashore, its Marine Debris Art, Traveling Exhibit and Integrated Arts Marine Debris Curriculum, please contact Frank Rocco, Marketing Director, at 415-847-1239, FrankRocco@WashedAshore.org.
