The Art Of Restoration

Angela Haseltine Pozzi overcomes personal tragedy to educate others about ocean pollution.

By Mckenzie Palmer

Walking along the beach, one might feel a strong breeze brushing against their skin, chilling them to the bone and causing the grass to sway. The waves crash against the shore to create a perfect melody for the seagulls to sing to. Bare feet sink slightly into the ground as children run gleefully towards the water’s edge. Strolling across the golden sand, one might glance down and notice a unique rock or a pretty shell that would fit just perfectly in their collection. Bending to pick it up, they then might notice the bits of plastic strewn on the ground, disrupting the harmony of the natural scene.

Pollution is becoming an issue of increasing concern on the Oregon coast. When introduced into habitats, it can negatively impact marine life. This is a relatively new issue, since plastic itself is a recently developed product that only became cheap to produce in 1907. As such, animals are not familiar with its presence in their environment. They often confuse plastic for other animals—their food source— since that is what they are used to seeing in the ocean. Ingestion of the plastic can fill their stomachs over time, and cannot be digested, leaving them with no space for their actual diet that provides them with nutrients, so they starve to death. Other animals become entangled in nets and plastic bands, leading to yet another unnatural demise.

In an effort to educate the public on this issue, Washed Ashore, a nonprofit based out of Bandon, Oregon, brings volunteers together to build sculptures out of plastic collected from the beach. They are crafted to look like animals impacted by the pollution, such as puffins, sea turtles, and penguins. This art appears in national traveling exhibits, where they remain for several months until they are moved to another location. Permanent exhibits exist in Bandon, Oregon and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Washed Ashore has a very specific goal. “Our mission is to build and exhibit aesthetically powerful art to educate a global audience about plastic pollution in the ocean and waterways, and to spark positive changes in consumer habits,” says Angela Haseltine Pozzi, founder of Washed Ashore.

Her love of art and sense of responsibility towards protecting nature were fostered at a young age, as her parents were both naturalists and artists. Her father was an art director and her mother a professional artist. Naturally, they took her to museums, galleries, operas, and dances on a regular basis. She says, “the visual and performing arts were always very much a part of my life, and I always had a place in my mom’s studio… I think that allowing creativity to flourish in your own home is really vital.”

Her parents also instilled in her a deep connection with the natural world. They taught her about edible plants and mushrooms, and spent a lot of time outdoors. Every summer, her family stayed at her grandparents’ lakeside cabin in an old-growth forest near the ocean, where she gained many valuable experiences. Participating in the outdoor school program with her class as a child, she was way ahead of the game.

These childhood experiences inspired her to share her passions with others. She says, “I realized that I was very different than most kids… Other people didn’t have this kind of knowledge of nature and art. And I thought, ‘that’s not right, I need to change that,’ and so I really became a teacher because I realized that I wanted other people to have the same kind of knowledge that I had of the arts, and of nature.”

Education is a key piece of the organization, and Haseltine Pozzi has plenty of experience in that field. “I was an art teacher for 30 years and always believed in the power of arts education,” she says. “And then as a practicing artist and the director of a nonprofit, I’m a teacher on a much bigger scale.”

This education is often directed towards younger generations, as Haseltine Pozzi believes that it is especially important to educate youth, hoping they’ll someday enact change. She says, “children come to this problem [of pollution] with a fresh view that us adults don’t have. I mean, we’re trying to change our habits desperately, and it’s so hard for adults to change habits. It’s so much easier for children to get the right habits from the beginning instead of having to change them.”

What children lack in experience, they make up for in a positive outlook towards the future. It is crucial to take action and find solutions, rather than focusing on the reasons why a project may not work out. Haseltine Pozzi says, “[children] don’t see the barriers that all the adults see… They are filled with hope, they’re full of good ideas, and they don’t know all the roadblocks. And sometimes, it’s good not to know the roadblocks, so you can just jump over them.”

Haseltine Pozzi believes it is beneficial to channel the youth’s mindset. “We have to find a way to look at things differently,” she says. “We have to find the opportunity in the tragedy, and the opportunity is always there, it’s just a matter of changing our perspective on the way we see it.”

Before Washed Ashore was established, Haseltine Pozzi had her own tragedy to overcome. In 2001, Craig Pozzi, her husband of 25 years, collapsed with a cancerous brain tumor after having his seizures misdiagnosed as panic attacks for eight years. He underwent major surgery and radiation treatment, but tragically died of a stroke in 2004. In search of healing, Haseltine Pozzi moved from the Vancouver, Washington area to Bandon, Oregon, the place of her family's cabin where she had spent every summer as a child. She found that the beaches she had loved so dearly as a child were strewn with garbage.

Having won a lawsuit against the healthcare organization that misdiagnosed Craig, Haseltine Pozzi started Washed Ashore in an effort to help save the ocean. She put the lawsuit money to work, buying property and supplies, renting trucks, and paying wages for two and a half years. She knew that she had to make something positive come from the heartbreaking loss of her husband.

Immersing herself in her passion has proved beneficial, both for the world, with increased awareness of a global issue, and for Haseltine Pozzi herself. “I got remarried seven and a half years ago to a wonderful man named Frank Rocco, who is the marketing director of Washed Ashore,” says Haseltine Pozzi. “Things happen when you open your heart to what you love in life and what you care about. Your heart opens to love again.”

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Not only does Haseltine Pozzi encourage people to pick up garbage and turn trash into treasure, she hopes that when more people see the negative impact made by humans, they will work to change laws to further protect the environment.

The first step in preparing communities to make large changes is sharing an understanding of the topic and the scientific reasoning behind the change. Presenting the facts and encouraging solutions while inspiring a positive attitude enables communities to come together and set great change in motion. It is crucial that people approach large issues with the idea that anything is possible, and individual efforts contribute towards amazing transformations. Haseltine Pozzi says, “you have to find a way to... find the hope. Otherwise, you can’t keep going forward.”