Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, April 13, 2011, Page 4, Image 4

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    Page 4
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A p ril 13. 2011
Earth Day
Clean-Up
A llberta M ain Street will host a
neighborhood cleanup event for
Earth D ay, Saturday, A pril 23.
T he organization, one o f the
th re e P o r tla n d M a in S tr e e t
P ro je c ts , is w o rk in g to h e lp
A lberta Street achieve its full p o ­
tential as a vibrant neighborhood
and destination— both for m em ­
bers o f the im m ediate com m unity
and Portland as a w hole.
O ne o f the m ain goals has been
to im plem ent a new w aste pickup
and graffiti-rem oval program , to
help keep the street sparkling. To
k ick o ff w eekly street cleanings,
the group is hosting a neig h b o r­
hood "D eep C lean ”, encouraging
com m unity m em bers to com e out
for a m orning o f trash pickup and
good “c lea n ” fun.
P rizes w ill be a w a rd e d fo r the
m ost re c y c la b le s c o lle c te d and
for the s tra n g e s t item fo u n d .
V o lu n te e rs are e n c o u ra g e d to
p a rtic ip a te as te am s o r co m e ou t
an d jo in o u r te a m -le ss team ;
com e in co stu m e, if d esired , w ith
a d d itio n a l p riz e s fo r b e st team
sp irit.
Trash bags will be provided.
V olunteers will be assigned areas
o f the A lberta Street neig h b o r­
hood w hen they register the m orn­
ing o f the event at A lberta C entral
at N ortheast 18th A venue and
A lberta Street.
V olunteers are encouraged to
bring their ow n gloves or any tools
they have that will aid in clean up.
Som e tools w ill be provided. All
participants will receive a special
thank you gift from A lberta M ain
Street and an A fter Party— includ­
ing refreshm ents and m errim ent—
is planned to celebrate the d a y ’s
hard w ork.
S ig n u p in a d v a n c e at
alb ertam ain st.o rg o r sim ply show
up and register at A lberta C entral.
A dditional volunteers are sought
to aid in setup and breakdow n o f
the d a y ’s ev en ts or to act as q u ad ­
ra n t
le a d e r s .
C o n ta c t
in fo@ albertam ainst.org for m ore
inform ation.
Avalon Flowers
520 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204 • 503-796-9250
A full service
flower experience
• Birthdays
• Funerals
■ jJh«
• Anniversaries
• Weddings
Open: Mon.-Fri. 7:30am til 5:30pm
Saturday 9am til 2pm.
Website: avalonflowerspdx.com
email: avalonflowers@msn.com
Cori Stewart—
We Offer Wire Services
Owner, Operator
Kindah Tree Wellness
presents
Healing Our Bodies and Our Village:
Free Wellness Workshops
fo r Women o f Color
Saturday, April 16, 2011
10:00am-5:00pm
The Healing Roots Center
fo r info call 503-777-1982
5432 N Albina, Portland, OR
Women of all ages!!
Plastic garbage recovered from Oregon beaches are formed into a likeness o f a whale's skeleton in
the 'Washed Ashore' exhibit coming to Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus in south­
west Portland.
Plastics Threaten Life in the Ocean
Art exhibit
exposes dangers
An art exhibit exposing the dan­
gers o f plastics pollution in the world's
oceans is com ing to Portland C om ­
m unity College's Sylvania Cam pus.
"Washed A shore," is a co m m u ­
nity effort to build giant sculptures
o f sea creatures m ost th reatened by
d iscard ed p lastics in the ocean.
Sponsored by the A rtula Institute,
hundreds o f volunteers and school
children have helped create these
sculptures, including a sea turtle,
giant fish, jelly fish , coral, squid and
even a w hale skeleton.
T he exhibit w ill be open to the
public from 3 to 7 p.m ., T uesday
through T hursday, and 10 a.m . to 4
p.m ., Friday and Saturday, A pril 20
through June 10 at the S ylvania
C am pus, 12000 S. W. 49th Ave.
A ll o f the plastic that m ake up the
pieces have been picked up from
O regon beaches.
C om m unity m em bers o f all ages
h av e b een w o rk in g to g e th e r to
g ath er the beach plastics and co n ­
struct giant sculptures o f the m arine
anim als m ost affected by the plastic
pollution. Since the inception o f the
p roject, thousands o f pounds o f
plastic pollution have been p ro ­
c essed in to art su p p lie s by the
"W ashed A shore" effort.
"Pelicans eat lids and lighters
and are dying o f starvation," said
the project's director and lead artist
A ngela H aseltine Pozzi o f Bandon.
"Fish eat plastic pieces and are g et­
ting poisoned. Sea turtles devour
plastic bags thinking they are je lly ­
fish. Seals are being choked by plas­
tic rings. O ur beaches are being
littered by garbage."
Pozzi said she w ants to call atten­
tion to the volum inous presence o f
plastics in the m arine environm ent as
one o f the biggest threats to the
survival o f life in the ocean. In some
places small bits o f plastic outw eigh
plankton by six to one, she reports,
and estim ates that entanglem ent kills
50,000 to 90,000 fur seals alone.
For 30 years she has been an
active arts ed u cato r w ith w ork cen­
tered on the ocean.
"The ‘W ashed A shore' project
has taken my artw ork in a new direc­
tion," Pozzi said. "I have alw ays
used various ty p es o f discarded
and recycled m aterials, as well as
new m a te ria ls, to re p re se n t the
strange and undiscovered creatures
that dw ell in the underw ater w orld.
N ow , I have challenged m y self to
buy nothing except w ire and m etal
fram ew ork m aterials, gathering e v ­
ery o th er bit o f m aterial I use from
local beaches - m y sculptures are
now 98 percent discarded plastic.
T his w ay o f w orking is the biggest
creative ch allen g e o f m y life."