Angela Haseltine Pozzi: I'm Angela Haseltine Pozzi.
I'm the executive director of Artula Institute,
for arts environmental education
and the director of the 'Washed Ashore Project'.
Amanda Richards: 'Washed Ashore' is a big community effort
to collect plastic debris that's been washed up along the Oregon coast,
and create massive, beautiful marine life sculptures.
These sculptures have really strong impact
when viewed, because they're visually striking.
They're very impressive in size,
and they're made entirely out of garbage.
Pozzi: This is the opening day for the 'Washed Ashore' project
at Portland Community College, Sylvania,
and it's really great to be here. Thanks to Kim Smith.
KIm Smith: My name is Kim Smith
and I'm a sociology professor here at PCC,
and I specialize in environmental sociology.
Pozzi: She saw the exhibit,
she got really excited about it
and said we've got to make this happen and -
Smith: as an environmental Sociologist,
I actually really felt a calling that this had to come to Portland,
and within a day, I contacted Angela Haseltine Pozzi, the artist.
Pozzi: We both decided that
being on a college campus is a priority
for the 'Washed Ashore' project.
It's an educational art exhibit,
so being in an educational setting is ideal.
Female: It's amazing to see how much plastic there was,
so when I was walking through,
I was overwhelmed just looking at how much variety of plastic there is
and how we use plastic for everything.
It was really kind of scary and really eye opening.
Male: I think the piece that most interested me is
the one that was made to look like whale bones.
It was was a very interesting use of waste material
and also brings to the mind,
where's this stuff going and what is it doing.
Male: I think the piece that was
probably most striking was the oil spill replica.
I just think as a structure,
as a representation of the kinds of things
that are associated with oil spills. It's a very powerful,
and the way it's set up it's almost haunting.
Smith: We have a commitment as a college,
Portland Community College's board of directors
has signed onto a mission of sustainability
and so it fits right into our educational awareness campaigns
around green curriculum and I'm really proud to be a part of it.
I have a lot of response to this art, you know
not just as an academic whose concerned about
the impact of consumers on our planet. The impact of industry.
But another side to that truly is just like, what is my role?
Who am I as somebody who uses plastic?
We all have a part to play in this
and so the pieces are beautiful art creations
but it's the message behind the art,
which is why I brought it to this college.
Often people ask, you know, what can we do?
A huge part of it is honestly thinking that each of us actually matters.
When we see ourselves as responsible and accountable for our actions,
that's where I see the difference being made for our world.
So we have hundreds of students who are involved as volunteers
and so we've been doing all these formal trainings,
so they can be tour guides and docents for the exhibit
and it's been really powerful to see them transform in their awareness
of the issues in the oceans and related to plastics,
but it's touching their hearts, and their souls
and I really think that it's making a really powerful difference.
Pozzi: It's taking on a life of it's own,
and I'm actually so thrilled. I feel like I found my purpose in life.
I feel like I have landed.
This is it and I am never doing anything else.
This is my life.
I'm going to keep making art out of garbage
until it stops coming ashore,
which means I'll probably be doing this the rest of my life,
which is just fine with me
