Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Art for Environmental Issues

with Judith Selby Lang
Monday, March 7, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

One person's garbage can become another person's jewelry, as Judith Selby Lang will demonstrate in her Gualala Arts lecture series talk entitled "Art for Environmental Issues." In this presentation she explores the global impact of the detritus she collects from beaches and then fashions into jewelry, combining an aesthetic statement and a commentary on environmental issues.

She says, "By giving aesthetic form to what is considered to be garbage, I serve as both curator and cleaner. The content of my work has a message about the spoiling of the natural world by the human created industrial world. My intent is to transform the perils of pollution into something beautiful and celebratory."

She hopes to put fun and fashion into the environmental issues conversation. Hopefully those who see her work will soon be collecting their own plastic "treasures." To see how she transforms the plastic trash collected while beachcombing visit her fashion web site beachplasticjewelry.blogspot.com.

The concept evolved from an exhibit of environmental art called "One Beach, One Year" at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station. The idea was to collect what washed up on Kehoe Beach at the Point Reyes National Seashore and to reshape it into art. Judith was amazed at the amount of materials collected - over 600 disposable lighters, over 200 disposable cheese spreaders from Kraft Handi-Snacks, over 3,000 pounds of plastic - all from one beach.

To convey what was happening in the ocean, Judith and her companion Richard Lang decided to use the transformational power of art instead of the usual harangue. It was a decision that led her eventually to the ongoing beach plastic project. Now married, the couple combine their love of nature with their interest in science to produce art works about the oceans and the environment.

To hear the rest of this fascinating story attend the lecture on March 7. There is no advanced ticket sale, but a $5 admission will be collected at the door. More information about Judith's work is available at beachplastic.com and at plasticforever.blogspot.com.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Gualala Arts, 1961 - 2011

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.