Winners of Shell Museum’s H2O Art Exhibition Announced

provided to The Santiva Chronicle

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum’s “H2O Art Exhibition”, on display until April 30th, 2021, aims to bring many interpretations to our infinite individual and communal connections to water.

Judging has been completed, and the Museum is pleased to share the winners:
-1st Place: Heteromorphic Baptism by Mila Bridger and Pamela Beckman.
-2nd Place: Oh, Precious Roots of the Sea, How Thy Nourishes the Life of the Oceans by Mary Voytek.
-3rd Place: Light on the Water I by Kristin Herzog.
-Museum Staff Choice: Tide Going Out at Blind Pass by Suzanne G. Bennett.

Heterophobic Baptism by Mila Brider and Pamela Beckman – First Place

Oh Precious Roots of the Sea, How Thy Nourishes the Life of the Oceans by Mary Voytek – Second Place

Light on the Water I by Kristin Herzog – Third Place

Tide Going Out at Blind Pass by Suzanne G. Bennett – Museum Choice

Water is the source of all life and has been an inspiration for artists, writers, and philosophers around the world for thousands of years. To celebrate this inspirational “H2O Art Exhibition”, the Museum is presenting a free lecture series for an extended conversation regarding humans’ relationship and dependence upon water in all its forms.

The next lecture will be given virtually via Zoom at 5pm on March 25, 2021, by José H. Leal, Ph.D., Interim Director & Curator of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. “Our goal for the H2O lecture series and art exhibition collaboration is to build momentum on addressing the great importance of water quality to our ecosystem,” said Dr. Leal. “During my upcoming talk, “Shells and Bad Water: Ocean Acidification and its Effects on Mollusks”, I will share some of the most recent finds about the influence of ocean acidification on mollusks, which are a critical link in the oceans’ food webs”.

Registration for the lecture series can be found at ShellMuseum.org/ h2o-lecture-series.

About the Museum: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is a Natural History Museum, and the only museum in the United States devoted solely to shells and mollusks. Their mission is to connect people to the natural world through their love of shells and the marvelous animals that create them. Their collections, programs, and expertise inspire learning, support scientific research, tell the story of mollusks, and the ocean that they inhabit. There are more mollusks in the oceans than all marine mammals and fish species combined, and mollusks are becoming extinct faster than they can be named due to climate change, ocean acidification, and pollution. For more information on the Museum, please visit http://www.shellmuseum.org or call (239) 395-2233.