FLOPPING FISH Ecological Art By Tina Borchert ABSTRACT This article discusses the process and story leading up to the sculpture created by the Art Club, from the river cleanup project. A collective decided to come together, hauling out all supplies necessary to clean up a shared environmental space. The waste lugged out of the river by the community is then sorted through and artists pick out the most useful pieces. They use these to create a sculpture. One that is visually enticing and thought provoking as well.
The Art Club at Millersville University had the opportunity to collaborate with the Conestoga River Club on a cleanup of the Conestoga River this past spring. One reason we took up this opportunity is to help clean our surrounding community. When our club realized we would be able to help clean up our environment and create an art piece during the event, we were really intrigued. This was also during a time of the year where COVID-19 still had a significant impact on school activities. A usual semester for our club can look like museum and gallery trips; however, activities were limited due to restricted face-to-face contact, which made our club small. After hearing about this event, the Art Club members and officials could not turn it down. This clean up means a lot, as the Conestoga River stretches across Lancaster County, which then diverges into smaller creeks that reach as far as Lititz. This means that if the Conestoga River were to become polluted, it could contaminate water across counties, affecting a wide range of people. The event took place on a Saturday and included a diverse group of at least 50 people like local officials, club members, and community members who feel strongly about keeping their local environment clean. The Art Club members present, Heidi and Oscar pictured below, grabbed a trash bag in one hand and a trash grabber in the other, alongside me and all the other community members that came ready to act. We walked around collecting trash for about an hour along the river. A handful of people were not afraid to get dirty and walked right into the edge of the
HEIDI NAUSS, TINA BORCHERT AND OSCAR MCDONAH. “FISH OUT OF WATER”, TRASH SCULPTURE PREVIOUSLY ON DISPLAY AT LOMBARDO WELCOME CENTER, APRIL 17TH, 2021.
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