Art As a Solution to Plastic Pollution — Clean and Create on Earth Day at MEEC at the Carpenter House

Beach Clean Up and Environmental Art Festival Set for Saturday, April 21

In celebration of Earth Day, the Marine Environmental Education Center (MEEC) has partnered with Free Our Seas and Beyond for a Beach Clean Up and Environmental Art Festival,  beginning at 10 am on Saturday, April 21 at MEEC at the historic Carpenter House, located at 4414 N Surf Road on Hollywood Beach.

South Florida beaches and waterways are littered with items that don’t belong, like plastic bottles, straws and bags, cigarette butts and abandoned fishing line and nets.   The newly-revived code banning styrofoam and other plastics on the beach will hopefully make a big difference in the amount of trash making its way into our beaches and waters.

And, by raising awareness of the impact of marine debris on our beaches, waterways and marine life, this clean up and fair promises to harness the power of art to shed light on environmental solutions and inspire and educate as a way to create change.

Harnessing the power of art to connect with the environment, shine a light on solutions, and inspire and educate to create change is the mission of the Free Our Seas and Beyond Environmental Art Festival.

The festival is being produced in partnership with MEEC at the Carpenter House, NSU Broward County and the City of Hollywood.  The Carpenter House’s oceanfront location on Surf Road is perfect for the festival. Art inspired by nature, as well as up-cycled and recycled environmentally themed pieces, will highlight our connection to the ocean, while raising awareness of the impact single-use plastics have on our beaches, waterways and marine life.

Free our Seas 2 26 flyerThe fun begins at 10 am with a community beach clean-up sponsored by the SURFRIDER Foundation of Broward County. From noon to 5 pm, original and inspiring artwork created by professional and student artists will be showcased, along with musical performances, food trucks, art centers and games for children, environmentally friendly vendors, non-profits, a community art installation, feedings of Captain, the rescued sea turtle, and more…

In the morning, Artist SusieQ Wood will be creating a flash art (temporary) project as part of the beach clean-up, performed beachside at the Carpenter House, making a fun, interactive art piece using the trash/litter collected from the beach.

In the afternoon, she’ll be on the second floor of the Carpenter House, in her temporary mini art studio, helping attendees co-create artwork for home or office based on a heart-centered theme, using cleaned debris/litter from local beaches and neighborhoods. The finished pieces will be put up for sale.

SusieQ is scheduled to speak on stage at 2:15 pm in the central garden.  As of this writing, she is looking for volunteers for this and other Earth Month events.  For more information on these special volunteer opportunities and times, call SusieQ at 954 630 1610.

For more information on the event or on Free Our Seas and Beyond, contact

Manon Wiese at 786 295 4294 or Manon.freeourseas@gmail.com.

 https://www.facebook.com

Instagram @freeourseasandbeyond

For info on Carpenter House and MEEC, visit  carpenter-house-meec/

For info on Surfriders Broward, visit https://broward.surfrider.org

Author: Amanda Jones
Author: Amanda Jones

Amanda Jones specializes in social media marketing. She holds a Master's degree in Social Media Management from the University of Florida and a Social Media Professional Certificate from the University of Miami.

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