NORWALK, CT — Artist Rachel DeCavage became an environmentalist at an early age after reading the “The Lorax” and dreaming of living among the truffula trees and brown barbaloots richly illustrated in the classic Dr. Seuss book.
She also took the book’s message of “caring a whole awful lot” about the world around her to heart, something she hopes to impart to others through her unique artwork.
“If we can give kids an opportunity to experience nature in a very engaging way and get excited about it, that’s key,” DeCavage said.
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On Thursday, guests at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk were invited to view DeCavage’s coral reef sculptures made entirely of upcycled materials alongside similarly inspired artwork in celebration of World Ocean Day.
DeCavage, the owner and creative director Cinder + Salt, said the base of her sculpture was made out of scraps from her print shop, including packing tape, paper covered in ink and waste from screen printing.
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Using these materials, she was able to turn waste materials into a stunning piece of art that she said did not require much planning.
“I don’t really plan,” DeCavage said. “I just find the things that come to me and then try to repurpose them. The base of the structures I have to plan a little bit because I have to figure out how to build them, but all of the waste…like the shipping pouches, packing peanuts, food wrappers, whatever we collect, I try to repurpose it into something that looks like coral.”
Guests were also able to assist National Geographic Explorer Kat Owens with her art project, “Entangled and Ingested,” by sewing a life-sized portrait of a humpback whale to canvas. Owens’ project similarly utilized waste materials to create an inspired work of art, however it did require some planning ahead of time.
“I’m a planner, so it is pretty planned out,” Owens said, “but then when I do anything with the public, it’s uncontrollable. Kids have done all kinds of crazy stuff, and I’ve really opened myself up to the process. I can’t control it and I don’t try to control it at this point. But then I do have to later, as I’m sewing all the panels together, repair things or make the lines connect, that kind of stuff.”
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Both displays were part of a variety of special activities held by the aquarium to raise awareness of the impact of human activities on the ocean and highlight the importance of sustainability during World Ocean Week, an expanded celebration of World Ocean Day.
For Owens, who also works as a college professor, Thursday’s event brought to mind the educational experiences that have meant a lot to her in her life.
“I think anything that’s experiential that gets you to connect with something, not just listening but doing, is really valuable,” Owens said. “I hope that [guests] will remember something about this day.”
She also appreciated the opportunity to connect with a bigger audience as she crafted her project among the large number of kids and families at the aquarium.
“Artists are so often working alone in a workshop or studio,” Owens said, “so to connect with the public is huge.”
Both DeCavage and Owens also hoped displaying their art at the aquarium would impact the way children think about creative reuse.
“The problems of the world are so heavy and can really drag people down,” DeCavage sais, “and when kids can see they can turn their trash into something meaningful or learn more about all these creatures and how to protect them and how our simple actions can make a big difference, I think it’s a really important next step of the education process.”
Maritime Aquarium CEO Jason Patlis said having kids respond positively to things they don’t expect to see in an aquarium, such as creative art displays, is exactly where he wants to take the aquarium in the future.
“It’s to really open up kids’ worldview of the ocean in ways they don’t expect,” Patlis said. “Everybody comes to the aquarium knowing they’re going to see sharks, rays, horseshoe crabs, harbor seals and jellies, but nobody comes to the aquarium expecting to see works of art that are equally important in terms of connecting people to the ocean, getting people to think about the way the ocean impacts their own lives, and then what they in turn can do to better protect the ocean going forward. To see kids excited about something new and different, particularly as it relates to works of art, is incredibly thrilling and gratifying to me.”
He also noted that while the aquarium enjoys celebrating World Ocean Day and expanding it into a weeklong celebration, it is still a relatively small recognition of how hugely important the ocean is to both the planet and human existence.
“We like to think of raising ocean awareness, getting people to think about how to protect the ocean, all 365 days of the year,” Patlis said. “This event is great, the whole week has been great, but we invite everybody to think about these things all year long.
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