ANERR Fishy Fashion Collaboration and Celebration

The Fishy Fashion Show exhibit and opening night were a mixture of joy, silliness, education, seriousness, and creativity. These are essential ingredients of success when trying to get an important message out to the public. Artist Joan Matey’s costumes made of marine debris delivered a message both powerful and fun. ANERR staff proved to be quite talented at sashaying and twirling as they modeled some of the costumes that are not featured in the exhibit. Our local barrier islands and beaches were represented in the St. George, St. James, and St. Theresa Beach costumes, and how could one have an exhibit at a NERR without a delightful estuary fairy? Memorable runway characters also included: the Harbor Hobo, Clamity Jane, Shoreline Sheriff, and Rear Admiral Garbage Patch. Inside the exhibit itself there is an elaborate bridal outfit made from burlap oyster sacks and netting, as well as one called Marine Antoinette made from sail cloth and egg casings. The exhibit also features a joint effort with our local Franklin County school students and their incredibly talented art teacher Ms. Lydia Countryman. Ms. Countryman and the students set about creating sculptures, pictures, and various other artistic media made from recycled materials and debris they had found. These works were accompanied by stories that tied in well with Joan’s artistic ambience. Our favorite quote from one of the Franklin County School students’ stories was “From Heron Out represents a promise; a promise that from here on out, we will dedicate ourselves to protecting our fragile and beloved ecosystem.” The exhibit is open until the end of the year and features some interesting facts about marine debris in hopes of improving awareness and education about this topic in an amazing collaboration involving art, science, education, and our local county school students. The opening fashion show was well attended by over 80 people including many of our student artists. We even received a phone call from a mother of a few of the students in attendance telling us about how much the kids enjoyed being able to participate in the exhibit and see their work featured in such a prominent public display. Hopefully, Joan, Lydia, and all our student artists will run out of debris-based materials, but until then, they have transformed trash into an elegant message. We hope everyone will come and see what these wonderful stewards of our watershed have created.