NEC Staff
What is Craft for the Coast?
The EPA estimates that the average American throws away 4.9 pounds of solid waste every day, however those of us who have trash service can easily ignore this reality because our waste is magically whisked away and we don’t have the experience of watching it accumulate.
Craft for the Coast strives to bring awareness to issues of production and consumption and give litter a new life. By doing neighborhood cleanups and mining their own trash bins for upcycled art materials, people can prevent trash from going into our oceans and landfills. To take it a step further, the NEC embraces the idea that art is activism and has the power to influence policy and change the way we deal with waste as a community. Through works of art that are made using trash we can bring awareness to production, consumption, our societal notions of worth and usefulness, the flaws in our trash and recycling systems, and associated environmental degradation.
Art Submissions
Thank you to all the artists for your participation in this event!. Check us out on social media to see all of the winners of the 2023 Craft for the Coast contest. We were blown away by all of the incredible submissions we received.
- At Sea
- Igor the Tenor Balalaika
- Mad Hats
- The Beauty of Poetry
- Shoe-Leather Belt Pouch
- Bob the Builder
- Can Guitar
- Obstacle Course
- Julie’s Trash Robot
- Verta Sculptures
- Can Chicken
- The Collapse
- The Forgotten Ones
- Sea Glass Slipper
- Jellyfish?
- Rehabilitation
- Bin Chicken
- Through the Tides of Waste
- Party City 2021 Mixed Media
- Doom & Bloom
- TP Roll dispenser
- 1 Small Foil Bird
- 2 Large Posable Sculptures
- Miniature Princess Gazebo
- Lilith
People’s Choice award Winner
The Forgotten Ones
It is undeniable that all life on Earth is organically connected. Humans, as a singular species alone, have polluted the world and destroyed ecosystems, all for the sake of satisfying our greed and need for convenience and comfort. We have created an imbalance in the world, a serious global environmental crisis we are quickly experiencing the consequences of. However, no matter how reliant on technology we get, how far we as a society develop, we must not forget the hundreds of millions of other species on Earth that are also suffering from these effects. In countless ways, mankind relies on the complex and interconnected ecosystem that nature provides. I created these pieces, representing animals, turning “trash” into forms of life.
About the artist: Chloe Jung is a visual artist who has a special interest in architectural design. Her visual arts training spans from 2016, and she has extensive experience with oil and acrylic painting, as well as mixed media sculptures. Her work is focused on matters of environmental advocacy and climate change, mental health and societal pressures, the intersections of art and technology, and the power of art to communicate about global issues.