COASTWATCH IN THE SCHOOLS

Art and Ecology Workshops

Exploring coastal ecology through creative, hands-on learning

Creating Connections

The Art and Ecology Workshop connects king tides, marine debris, and critical species, like the Western snowy plover and killer whale, through volunteer cleanups, educational games, and collaborative art projects. This multifaceted experience fosters environmental awareness and education across coastal schools and communities. We initiated this project in 2023 with schools on Oregon’s southern coast, continued it in 2024 in Lincoln County, and look forward to bringing it to the north coast in 2025.

Starting on the Shore

The project kicks off in the Oregon National Dunes Recreation Area with a volunteer beach cleanup in mid-February, after the last set of winter king tides and before the snowy plovers begin nesting. Over three days, while the plovers dart around, Forest Service staff and CoastWatch volunteers work together to collect and remove marine debris from this critical habitat. The sites are chosen based on the amount of debris present and their remote location, which makes regular cleanup efforts difficult.

Workshop Week

After the debris is collected and cleaned, it’s time to take our work to the students. At each school, we work with students to build connections between critical species, marine debris, and king tides through a number of activities. These include exploring a “beach in a box,” educational videos, student-driven discussions, and multiple art projects. Students work independently on marine debris assemblages and posters to educate their communities, and the experience culminates in a collaborative marine debris mural.

Putting it All Together

Before going to the schools, Elizabeth Roberts designs a mural on a large sheet of canvas. Once the design is complete, it is cut into 14 panels. Each classroom is assigned a 3’ by 6’ panel and follows paint-by-numbers style guidance, arranging different colored pieces of marine debris on their panel. Once the panel is complete, we take a photo of it from above, and the students return the plastic to the bins to prepare for the next classroom. This means the students do not find out what the final mural looks like until every classroom has completed its panel and we digitally stitch all the images together. No pieces are glued to the canvas, which means they can be used for more art in the future.

Community Support

The Art & Ecology Workshops could not happen without the support of the participating schools, agencies, nonprofits, and foundations. We are grateful to all our partners and funders in this project who helped make it a reality. The Art and Ecology Workshop is a collaborative effort led by the CoastWatch in Schools program in partnership with Siuslaw Forest Service staff, Elizabeth Roberts, Washed Ashore, Curry Watersheds Partnership, Oregon Parks Forever, and Surfrider Foundation. Thanks also to Roy Lowe for the snowy plover footage used in the film and some memorable still photos.

The 2023 project was sponsored by the Oregon Parks Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Coquille Tribal Community Fund, the Lamb-Baldwin Foundation, the Roundhouse Foundation, the So Hum Foundation, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and NOAA.

The Gray Family Foundation, the DLX Family Foundation, the Roundhouse Foundation, NAAEE, the Lamb-Baldwin Foundation, the Oregon Parks Foundation, and the So Hum Foundation sponsored the 2024 project.

central coast

2024 Workshop

After the December 2023 king tides pushed marine debris to remote inland areas, Oregon Shores mobilized adult volunteers in February 2024 to conduct marine debris cleanups. In partnership with USFS, nine adult volunteers removed 1,500 pounds of marine debris over three days in remote western snowy plover habitat in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area in Coos County. This debris was then washed and sorted to be used during the May student art and ecology workshops.

Over 300 Crestview Heights School and Toledo Elementary School kindergarten through sixth-grade students participated in the 2024 workshop. These students worked together to create an excellent killer whale mural and worked individually to make signs that they could share in their communities to raise awareness about snowy plovers, marine debris, and king tides. This year, we were excited to welcome our Surfrider Foundation Oregon Chapters colleagues to introduce students to their Freedom from Marine Debris project. This was a great opportunity to send kids off into summer with new information about how they can celebrate the Fourth of July in an ocean-friendly way.

South Coast

2023 Workshop

Our first year of the Art and Ecology workshop began with a cleanup over three days. While the plovers darted around, Forest Service staff and CoastWatch volunteers filled a 10-foot box truck full of marine debris, amounting to about 150 trash bags (though there were many large items, including tires and giant pieces of foam). Washed Ashore donated the truck and delivered the debris to their warehouse for sorting. The cleanup sites were chosen based on the amount of debris present and their remote location.

Next, we held an art and ecology week in May at Kalmiopsis and Riley Creek Elementary Schools in Curry County. We worked with kindergarten through 8th-grade students and created four stations:

A marine debris race
Beach in a box 2.0
A 30-minute CoastWatch film highlighting photos from the dune cleanup and education about plovers and tides
A collaborative snowy plover mural using the marine debris collected in February