Marine Debris Art

Provincetown, the home of the Center for Coastal studies at the very tip of Cape Cod, has been known for its creative artist community for hundreds of years. In recent years, many artists here and around the world are exploring a new type of artistic expression.

In the hands of an artist, debris washed up onto a beach can become a beautiful, evocative reminder of the role humans play in stewardship of our natural resources.

Each year, the Center for Coastal Studies works with students and artists to exhibit compelling art created from marine plastic debris. Our friends at From the Bow Seat hold an annual student art contest which yields remarkable art concerning the issue of marine debris and ocean health, from middle and high school students around the world.

Our own Education Department brings students to the beach to collect material to create their own works of art.

In 2022, the Center and the Cape Cod National Seashore began a new project that resulted in a life-sized shark sculpture featuring marine debris which will be exhibited in the park from 2023 to 2026. The project was funded through a unique federal opportunity linking the National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program in a nationwide effort to educate and inform about marine debris issues affecting national parks. You can learn more about the artist Cindy Pease Roe and the shark “Mama Shut” in this article by the Cape Cod National Seashore.

To learn more about how we are working to educate about marine debris through art, check out Rescuing our Oceans through Recycled Art, a film by Johnny Bergmann at Lower Cape TV

More information.

To prevent certain fishing gear from becoming marine debris, the Center’s Marine Plastics Program facilitated the purchase of hundreds of thousands of pounds — miles and miles — of used and retired rope from the lobster fishery, and provided it to rope artists like Orly Genger and the Cape Porpoise Trading Company to use in creating beautiful works of art and function. Gear recovered during the 2021 field season is also being repurposed by artist Annie Lewandowski.

Locally, John Morgan, a counselor at the Provincetown Schools, and his wife Alicia, weave doormats from used lobster rope. Learn more about their work in this short podcast from WOMR, Provincetown’s community radio station, in the Summer 2021 issue of Edible Cape Cod, and on Instagram.

Regional collaboration allows artists from around the northeast to tap into the plentiful resource of fishing gear at the end of its life.

There is no shortage of material or inspiration for this medium of artistic expression.

RED, YELLOW, BLUE by  artist Orly Genger. Madison Square Park, NY.

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Entanglement Hotline: (800) 900-3622
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