Event unveils 26-Foot Recycled Whale Art as Part of Friday Night Liberty
SAN DIEGO – San Diego Coastkeeper invites San Diegans to join them in welcoming L’il Gray, an environmental art piece in the form of a life-size gray whale, to its new home in the Coastkeeper office. Three local artists will show several pieces of ocean-themed artwork to accompany the installation of the 26-foot long whale at “Coastal Pollution: A Whale of a Problem” on Friday, July 1. Complete with light appetizers, beverages and music, the event is part of Friday Night Liberty, a monthly open house of museums and shops at Liberty Station.
The whale is part of Coastkeeper’s educational campaign to counter coastal pollution. Plastic pollution is particularly devastating as it does not decompose, and wildlife can mistake the plastic pieces for food. Plastic is also the main component of the whale. Theresa Espaniola directed 130 first-graders from Jefferson Elementary School in Carlsbad to create the whale. Different classes worked on six separate panels of canvas, each with a section of whale and decorated each section with found beach trash that they collected themselves.
Theresa Espaniola will also be displaying some of her own artwork at Coastkeeper’s for Coastal Pollution: A Whale of a Problem. Her gARTbage series utilizes trash found on the beaches near her home in quirky dioramas designed to provoke amusement and generate awareness of coastal plastic pollution as a problem. She works frequently with children to create artwork from marine debris; L’il Gray was the result of one of these collaborations.
Myles McGuinness, an Oceanside photographer, will also be represented at the Coastkeeper event. He spearheaded Coastkeeper’s rebrand and designed and photographed Coastkeeper’s 2010 Annual Report, available on the Coastkeeper website. He will show an assortment of photographs of local ocean scenes.
Tony Peters is the third artist, a local oil painter who will be displaying two of his pieces with Coastkeeper. He uses the techniques of a landscape painter and applies them to city scenes.
Artists will be selling their art at the event and will donate a portion of the proceeds to Coastkeeper.
Attend Coastal Pollution: A Whale of a Problem Friday, July 1, 2011 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Coastkeeper office, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92106. The event will be occurring in conjunction with Friday Night Liberty, a monthly event for which all of the shops and museums of Liberty Station are open to the public, so there will be plenty to see for environmentalists and art aficionados alike. For more information, visit Coastkeeper online at https://www.sdcoastkeeper.org or call (619) 758-7743.
Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s inland and coastal waters for the communities and wildlife that depend on them by blending education, community empowerment and advocacy. The Coastkeeper office is located at 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92106. Visit online at https://www.sdcoastkeeper.org.
