Earth & Ocean Arts Festival promotes environmental awareness, stewardship

The public is invited to be part of a live art project that will create the world’s largest sea star entirely made up of people in one of the highlights of the festival.

Art and environment go hand in hand in Cannon Beach Oregon like no other place on the planet and Sept. 16-19 the town celebrates that combination at the Earth & Ocean Arts Festival. The festival will showcase the wonders of the natural world and encourage environmental stewardship through a broad range of gallery exhibits, live art performances and events. Some of the highlights of the event include:

Art For the Sky to Create World’s Largest Sea Star: The public is invited to be part of a live art project that will create the world’s largest sea star on the beach, entirely made up of people. The live art project will be coordinated by Art for the Sky, known for creating giant living paintings made of groups of people that are photographed from the sky. Over a span of twenty years, Art for the Sky founder Daniel Dancer has completed over 300 projects, in 44 states and eight countries with the help of more than 150,000 participants.

Live Performance Installations and Roving Performers: Public spaces in Cannon Beach will become participatory theater as award-winning San Francisco based theater group, We Players, acclaimed nationally for their site-integrated performances, will perform from their recent sold-out production of PSYCHOPOMP, portraying mythological characters who ferry souls between worlds.

Dualing Easels: A Unique Painting Experience: Participants watch as painters Michael Orwick & Anton Pavlenko, with their own distinct styles and color palettes, simultaneously begin paintings then switch canvases several times before finishing the canvases.

Gallery Events: Each of Cannon Beach’s art galleries will feature the work of their artists with strong environmental connections during the weekend and several galleries will host special guest artists who will offer demonstrations and meet the public.

Farm to Fork Dinner & We Players Performance: Iron Chef Goes Coastal winner Jonathan Hoffman will cater this exclusive limited attendance culinary event that will also feature a performance by San Francisco based theater group, We Players, who will perform an uplifting tribute of songs and stories about our ocean environment. Cost is $150, a fundraiser for the festival’s five featured non-profit organizations.

Raku Pottery Firing on the Beach: Ending with a burst of flame and smoke that creates the iridescent sheen of raku pottery, ceramic artists Dave and Boni Deal will fire a raku piece on the beach for the public to view.

In addition to showcasing art inspired by the natural world and encouraging stewardship, Earth & Ocean Arts Festival is a fundraiser for five North Oregon Coast based environmental non-profits including: North Coast Land Conservancy, Wildlife Center of the North Coast, Friends of Haystack Rock, Sea Turtles Forever, and Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

Festival passes are $50 per person and include all festival events (excluding Thursday’s dinner) and entry in a prize drawing worth $500 in gift certificates for use at participating Cannon Beach galleries. A total of $25 from every festival pass sold will be donated directly to the participating non-profit organizations. Admission to festival events is free for children 12 and younger, excluding the Thursday dinner. Adults and children can participate free in the Art For The Sky live art sea star by registering online.

For more information, to purchase passes or register for the Art For The Sky live art sea star, visit cbgallerygroup.com (https://cbgallerygroup.com/earth-ocean-arts-festival-september-16-19-2021/)