TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Larger-than-life sea creature sculptures are on display at Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, Friday, Jan. 26, through June 30.
It’s everything you want in an exhibition made from everything you don’t want floating in the ocean.
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Each sculpture was constructed entirely from marine debris, according to a news release from Tucson Botanical Gardens. It’s meant to convey the impact of pollution on sea life and inspire folks to use fewer single-use plastics, the release said.
The exhibit, dubbed Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea, is a collaboration between the gardens and Washed Ashore, a nonprofit organization based out of Oregon that has created 85 works of art from more than 35 tons of marine debris over the last decade. Washed Ashore works have been displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
The sea sculptures are included with the price of admission, $19 for adults, $15 for students, seniors (62-and-up) and military, and $10 for kids ages 4-12 (3-and-younger free). Tucson Botanical is open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily.
The exhibit also inspired Tucson Botanical Gardens Youth Education Coordinator Laura Uccetta to spearhead another art project at the Gardens with conservation and plastic waste in mind.
From November through the holiday season, visitors dropped off bottle caps from a variety of containers.
Uccetta says the Gardens received thousands of bottle caps, and volunteers needed 14 hours to sort them into colors.
Now, visitors can stick bottle caps onto a community mural, painted by artist Sydney Butler, who also works at the Gardens.
“People that have been bringing their bottle caps in have said that they have already made changes in their life, because when they start to collect the things in one container, they see how much they’re really using," Uccetta said. "And it inspires them to make a change. So that’s what I love a lot about this mural project.”
The problem of plastic waste is truly a global one. One of the people adding to the mural on Monday was 12-year-old Wilkie Metz-Moser, visiting from England.
“It’s kind of showing and making a point that there’s a lot of trash in the sea,” he said. “There’s still a lot of things to be done before the planet’s better.”
The Botanical Gardens is also hosting a contest to name the jellyfish sculpture at the Gardens entrance.
