Art Highlights the Need for Beach Cleanup

A group of artists has created a glimpse of the ocean at a Thousand Oaks shopping mall in an effort to raise awareness for the 14th annual Coastal Clean-Up Day planned this weekend across Ventura County.

A 40-foot-wide chalk drawing on display at The Oaks mall features an array of dolphins, sea turtles and starfish.

“It’s an effort to create awareness of sea-life conservation through art,” said Shaw Brusven, a mall spokesman. “And the colors are so rich and vibrant.”

A team of five artists created the chalk painting over a five-day period in July and August to help stress the importance of saving marine life. The artists include Jennifer Wolf and Lori Mikuls, who were raised in Ventura and attended Ventura High School together.

Wolf said she hopes the painting will not only motivate residents to participate in Saturday’s Coastal Clean-Up Day, but that it will also inspire them to visit the new Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

She added that creatures featured in the painting are based on photographs of marine life housed at the aquarium.

“The painting was also unique in the sense that it was being done in public,” said Wolf, who led the team of artists. “So people were actually able to communicate with the artists and ask them questions.

“It hopefully evoked a little more compassion for marine life and for our duty to clean up the coast.”

Each year more than 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the world’s oceans, killing an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and 2 million sea birds who eat or become entangled in the debris, said Jessica Craven, co-chairwoman of the Ventura County Coalition for Coastal & Inland Waterways.

To reduce trash across the county, the Coastal Clean-Up Day will focus on local waterways, parks, roads and neighborhoods, as well as beaches.

Last year 1,101 volunteers removed 20,969 pounds of trash and 3,008 pounds of recyclable waste from Ventura County waterways. This year’s participants are urged to wear gloves, long pants and sturdy shoes.

Cleanup efforts are scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon at locations at Ormond Beach, Hueneme Beach Park, Oxnard Shores, McGrath State Beach, Ventura Harbor Cove, Seaward Beach, San Buenaventura State Beach, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks, Sycamore Cove, Hollywood Beach, Silver Strand, Moorpark, Emma Wood Group Camp and Rincon Parkway.

For the closest location and directions, call (800) CLEAN-UP.

The marine life painting, meanwhile, will be on display at The Oaks at 222 W. Hillcrest Drive through mid-September in Thousand Oaks. For mall information, call 495-2031.