An art contest where you can really clean up
The wet weather that makes Western Oregon so green also adds to the character of our beaches, as downed trees make their way into rivers, are deposited into the ocean and then are dumped unceremoniously onto the beaches by large winter surf.
Sadly, that surf is increasingly dumping more than trees, but the Newport Parks and Recreation Department is trying to turn a negative into a positive with its new Clean Beaches Art Contest.
“I recently took a walk at Beverly Beach and saw that it’s just covered in micro-plastics,” said Recreation Program Specialist Jenni Remillard. “So, I was like, what can I do to encourage more people to get out and do beach cleanups?
To participate, contestants will clean an area, have fun making art with the natural materials that do belong there and possibly come away with a $100 gift certificate to a local restaurant.
“It’s helping the beach by cleaning up an area, then using that cleaned spot to make art,” Remillard said. “It’s basically making a natural canvas.”
The contest opened on February 17 and runs through Wednesday, March 17, and that large window of time to clean, create and enter was purposeful.
“We wanted to make sure people can participate at their convenience,” Remillard said. “I know this is a tough time of year weather-wise but there’s got to be a nice day with a low tide in there somewhere.”
Remillard also wanted to do her best to support participant safety in the contest.
“We’re still not supposed to be gathering,” she said. “That’s why we spread it out over a month.”
For a chance to win the $100 gift certificate from Clearwater Restaurant on Newport’s Bayfront, take before and after photos of your area, the pile of trash you picked up and your natural material beach art and send them to j.remillard@newportoregon.gov. Be sure to say which beach you visited. Photos will be posted on Facebook during the contest, allowing for a people’s vote to pick the winners. Multiple entries are welcome.
The city is not providing clean-up tools, but gloves and a bucket or reused and reusable bags are recommended so the cleanup is not creating more plastic waste.
Also, because much of what needs to be cleaned up are small plastic pieces, it might be helpful to bring a strainer or another similar tool.
The created art must be of all natural materials so it can be left on the beach. Sand drawings, sand castles or sculptures with natural materials are all acceptable.
A popular creation that takes advantage of the large amount of wood at the beach every winter are driftwood forts. Forts are a great project for families — see if you can make one big enough for the kids to fit inside.
Another fun activity for kids is to see if you can find any evidence of beaver-chewed driftwood; branches that have been beautifully cleaned of their bark with clear evidence of the long, sharp teeth that did the work.
The wrack zone, or wrack line, is the area left after the high tide has receded, and is a great place to find organic material like kelp, seagrass and shells that will make great art materials.
As Remillard put together the pieces of the contest rules and regulations, she reached out to potential partners, like Oregon Shores CoastWatch.
“They get volunteers assigned to every mile on the coast so I contacted them to see which beaches need the most attention right now,” she said. “They recommended Beverly Beach, Schooner Point near Moolack Beach and South Beach near the jetty.”
Another partner helped double the original prize that the city had planned to offer for the best beach art.
“We contacted Clearwater to see if they wanted to participate,” Remillard said. “They were excited enough to match the $50 prize we budgeted for.”
A few last words of advice:
“Just have fun with it and be as creative as you want to be,” Remillard said. “And always, please, be aware of the tides and never turn your back on the ocean. We hear reports of sneaker waves all the time.”
For more information and to see entries, go to the Newport Parks and Recreation page on Facebook.