An Ocean of Art

The images are mind-blowing, oceanic – and digital. 

The Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center (ELC) is hosting the Ocean Decade Exhibition from now until October 31. While Rookery Bay and the ELC typically tend to focus on our local waters, the estuaries, and backwaters of Southwest Florida, not the deep ocean, all of the world’s seas are interconnected, and really make up one enormous, interconnected body of water as the Ocean Decade Exhibition makes abundantly clear. 

The 27 images on display are visually stunning, often enigmatic, with many of them requiring a second or third look, perhaps resulting in a doubletake, created by artists from around the world using the full palette of digital wizardry. A picture of a boat circling, doing “donuts” in the water, turns out to have a human eye in the center of its vortex. A delicate shrimplike creature doubles as a mermaid. A diver on a coral reef is framed by the outline of a human head.  

And this is art with a message. One image, a favorite of Raquel Herrera, program manager for Friends of Rookery Bay (FORB), shows hands washing in a sink, the soapy water draining down into a beach scene, making its point with more drama than subtlety.  

“We are so connected. The ocean has a big impact on us, on all life. If it is contaminated, we are contaminated,” she said. “Everything we do influences the ocean.”  

Rookery Bay staffer Marzie Wafapoor, who was instrumental in developing the exhibit and bringing it to the ELC, pointed to an image of brightly colored jellyfish, magnified and seeming to float in the night sky above the silhouette of a human observer, as one that spoke to her.  

Each of the images was chosen to illustrate one or more of the seven principles of ocean literacy, which are a core component of the Ocean Decade initiative, a project of UNESCO running from 2021 through 2030. The seven principles are: 

1. The ocean makes our planet habitable. 

2. The ocean regulates the climate and the weather. 

3. Humans are entirely dependent on a healthy ocean. 

4. The ocean is home to the vast majority of animals. 

5. Over 80% of the ocean remains unexplored. 

6. Our world is shaped by the ocean and ocean life. 

7. There is only one ocean. 

The goal for the exhibit is to get viewers to engage with the artwork, and therefore with the oceans, and realize how they impact our lives, and vice versa, said Athan Barkoukis, FORB Executive Director. Unlike the typical art exhibit at the ELC, he said, “this artwork is not for sale” – in fact, the images are free for anyone to download and reproduce. “The value is in engagement with the public” to get people thinking. He added that, with state funding cut, support from the public is critical, and expressed gratitude for a $20,000 grant from the Collier Community Foundation.  

A complimentary sold-out opening reception with wine and “light bites” was hosted by FORB at the ELC on August 14, but the Ocean Decade Exhibition images will be on display “through Halloween,” said Barkoukis. After that, the exhibit created at Rookery Bay will tour other National Estuarine Research Reserves in Florida and the Southeast.  

Rookery Bay’s next exhibit, in conjunction with United Arts Collier, is “The Power of the Portrait,” featuring paintings by local artists showing portraits of wildlife – animals, insects, even plants. The group has put out a call for entries, with a deadline of October 7 for submissions.  

On Saturday, November 16, Rookery Bay will hold its sixth annual Classic Car Show, with over 100 classic cars, at Florida Southwestern State College’s Naples campus. And a host of activities and exhibits are available at the ELC, including the opportunity to learn about the natural Southwest Florida natural environment in air-conditioned comfort. Additional opportunities include boat and kayak tours, watercolor and photography classes, “birding with biologists,” and the meditative Forest Bathing experience. 

The Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, at 300 Tower Road, Naples, is open 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesdays through Saturdays with admission of $10 for adults and $5 for children ages four through 12, with discounted admissions through the Blue Star Museum and Museums for All programs. For more information, go online to RookeryBay.org.