Washed Ashore’s Nine-Foot-Tall Splashing Whale Tail Sculpture Made from Ocean Garbage to Highlight Plastic Pollution at United Nations Ocean Conference, June 5-9, 2017, in New York

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, [email protected].

Contacts

Washed Ashore
Frank Rocco, 415-847-1239
Marketing Director
[email protected]