Public art group bringing example, participation pitch Thursday to Yachats

By ELAINE WATKINS/YachatsNews.com

Does Yachats want to become a home for a big, bright plastic sea creature?

John Tannous of the Bandon-based Washed Ashore non-profit group wants to find out.

He’s bringing “Bella the Angelfish” to display from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 16 at the Yachats Commons and to discuss if the community wants to get involved in his public art project.

Washed Ashore formed in 2010 to spread a message about plastic pollution. To do that, the non-profit trained artists to build whimsical and dramatic art out of plastic that washed up on Oregon’s beaches.

Over the past nine years the group’s volunteers have picked up 40,000 pounds of marine debris and used it to create large sea creatures for display.

Tannous, executive director of the group, wants to introduce Yachats to the organization and explore forming a connection here.

Over the next two years, Washed Ashore is expanding its mission of educating and inspiring people to change their consumer habits by creating and placing several large sculptures along the Oregon coast. Tannous is looking for businesses or communities interested in securing and displaying the art and artists who want to learn the group’s process for creating beauty out of trash.

Tannous hopes artists and community organizers will attend the Yachats presentation to learn more about a multi-week artist residency in Bandon. Some scholarships and living stipends will be available for people selected to participate, he said.

The city of Yachats in 2018 extended a previous allocation of $20,000 to the Yachats Chamber of Commerce for public art, but little has has come of that.

Traveling with Tannous will be a 5- by 7-foot sculpture called “Bella the Angelfish on a Reef.” There will also be photos of Washed Ashore’s other pieces, which have been shown across the United States and are currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and at Disney’s Epcot Center.

To learn more:

Washed Ashore: https://washedashore.org/