Dozens of people, including Scouts from Pack 361, joined a beach cleanup in Port Clinton hosted by ONWR and TAG on April 25. (Submitted photo)

Volunteers removed 75 pounds of trash from the Port Clinton beach on April 25. The trash was used to create a collaborative art project. (Submitted photo)

PORT CLINTON – Basia Gawin, of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, had once contacted The Arts Garage (TAG) about the plastics they recover during their beach cleanups, wondering if they might be used in art. Resident environmental artist, Debra Sue Solecki, was happy to upcycle their trash into her art. Some of this work hangs at TAG in the current exhibit called ROOTED: An Artist’s View of Trees. But the partnership didn’t stop there.

Solecki wanted to get the community involved in an Earth Day celebration and called on Gawin to collaborate on a beach cleanup in Port Clinton on April 25. The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge maintains the beach and natural wetlands habitat in Port Clinton between SR 163 and the lake. Many people showed up, including families from Scout Pack 361. They spent an hour picking up trash on the beach, which actually looked clean, and yet they collected about 75 pounds of man-made trash off the city beach.

Then the group headed to TAG. Many enjoyed viewing the ROOTED exhibit while they were there. High School volunteers, Lilly Taylor and Madison Hand, sorted some of the collection while the kids played a game about the water cycle.

The group participated in a collaborative art project using the trash they had collected. Solecki drew a picture on a large recycled vinyl banner and cut it into pieces. Participants worked on their piece of the big picture by placing colors from plastic bits, food wrappers, and recycled magazines into color-coded sections.

Once the pieces are assembled, their collective effort will be hung for display in the Buckeye Tech Solutions storefront, located at 123 Madison St. in Port Clinton. Stop by and see how they turned trash into treasure and helped the local environment in the process. And don’t forget to stop into TAG, located at 317 W Perry St. in Port Clinton, to see the ROOTED exhibit, which ends May 3.