Looking back at 2017, Turning the Tide has had an interesting journey and produced a variety of memories. Let’s take a look back at what has been done so far.
January and February During the early months of the organization, Turning the Tide was a development and work-in-progress. I gave presentations to my school and shared what I wanted to do—preserve the ocean using art to target the main issues. I brought together a small following, but I was able to collect data from over 70 people all over the state of Florida.
March The first artworks came into focus, Robert Putnick joining the movement and starting what would eventually become a train of artworks sending out a message. I also published artwork that targeted the issue of plastic pollution.
April I continued to work on the project, drawing inspiration from origami. Casey Sernaque also wrote a poem for the blog.
May I continued to work, this time more publicly, on preserving the beaches. I attended a cleanup of my local beach and answered questions that were compiled into an interview. Members continued to add their thoughts on the blog, and I designed a logo.
June I took on a massive project of working on a large canvas to be displayed at World Ocean’s Day. The painting was of a dolphin, and during the event visitors covered the image in plastic bottle caps. I worked with Olivia Yagy and tried to get the message out from our booth. I also worked on shifting my personal focus from plastic pollution to other large problems less addressed, such as overfishing.
July I compiled my thoughts in a large post added to the blog discussing overfishing. Mr. Putnick also helped with shifting the focus, drawing a political cartoon discussing overfishing.
August With this month now beginning, I am prepared to reveal the project I have been working on, which once again pulls on my inspiration from origami and, of course, the ocean. I am excited to see where Turning the Tide goes in the future, and I am proud of what has been accomplished so far.
Turning The Tide 