We’ve partnered with the Cascade Head Biosphere Collaborative for their 2nd Annual Art on the Beach!
To celebrate one of the world’s rare biospheric reserves, scientists, artists, and the public will gather on the Oregon beach to talk, learn, and create images in the sand.
The Cascade Head Biosphere Collaborative (CHBC) has announced its second annual “Art on the Beach” weekend, a three-day event running July 16-18. This celebration brings together community science and artistic expression to raise awareness regarding the interdependence of humans on the oceans, as well as the impacts of climate change on coastal communities and the environment. With the help of partners Chinook Winds Casino Resort, The Elakha Alliance, community volunteers, and visiting guest artist Josie Iselin, this year’s events highlight kelp forests, sea otters and the crucial role they play in marine ecosystems.
This year, attendees and volunteers can look forward to a wider range of activities to participate in, from sea-star monitoring to sand-art raking a 100-yard long Bull Kelp and Sea Otter design. “Sand is the perfect canvas for everyone to be able to enjoy large scale art that illuminates the beauty and function of the ocean and how its amazing creatures are related to each of our lives,” said Duncan Berry, CHBC co-director and co-founder.
Sea star monitoring will occur during the extreme low tide at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the tidepools at the far north end of Lincoln City’s Roads End beach. Scientists and volunteers will measure how quickly Ochre Sea Stars are rebounding after a wasting disease swept through their ranks. Look for the informational tables to learn more and how you can help with the CHBC “Wrack Line,” another community science research project.
The first sand-raking event will take place on Sunday, July 17, from 9:30 a.m. to noon on the beach in front of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort (entrance to Art on the Beach is free). CHBC is proud to partner with Josie Iselin, a renowned San Francisco-based artist and seaweed expert, as well as the Elakha Alliance, which is a non-profit working to reintroduce sea otters back to their native waters in order to create a more robust and resilient marine ecosystem. “Art is an excellent medium to instill a sense of appreciation for the natural world around us. We’re thrilled to help promote ocean conservation through this creative project with the Cascade Head Biosphere Collaborative,” said Chanel Hason, director of outreach and community relations for the Elakha Alliance.
Later that day, the collaborative will offer a “Forests of the Sea” seaweed printing and educational workshop at the Lincoln City Cultural Center from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. It will feature cyanotype/solar printing and will be offering gyotaku technique of printing seaweeds and the creatures that inhabit the near shore. The cost of this gyotaku and solar print workshop is $60.
On Sunday evening, the CHBC and its partners at Oregon State University’s Marine Studies Initiative and the Elakha Alliance will be hosting an “Art and Science” presentation from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. This will be an immersion into the amazing undersea world of the kelp forests and the effort of re-introducing sea otters that are so key to their long term health. This event is free and open to the public.
Lastly, on Monday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the artists and rakers will return to the beach in front of the casino to depict giant Ochre sea stars marching down the beach.
