August 16, 2021 | St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – Erin Cartmill, Oxbow Eco-Center
Contributed by Dorothy Kamm
Member Spotlight – Erin Cartmill, Oxbow Eco-Center
Environmental education and art are perfectly partnered at Oxbow Eco-Center. Erin Cartmill, Education & Outreach Manager, reinforces environmental learning and awareness through a variety of art projects designed to get people to re-think and repurpose common items, from soda bottles to potato chip bags to tires, turning what often is considered trash into artistic treasure.
Erin joined the Oxbow staff as volunteer coordinator in 2016. Prior to Oxbow, she was a park ranger at Savannas Preserve State Park and education coordinator at Manatee Observation and Education Center in Fort Pierce. “In college, I studied biology and public relations, but my first semester I was a fine arts major,” says Erin. “Although I chose to pursue the environmental route, I have always loved art,” she adds.
In St. Lucie County, Erin learned about plastic pollution and its impact on our health and the health of the environment. “I was involved with the Florida Microplastic Awareness Project through the University of Florida. Microplastics were found in every body of water in St. Lucie County,” says Erin. “These tiny particles of plastic never biodegrade.” Concerned about the consequences of our throwaway culture, Erin turned her attention to repurposing and recycling things, sharing her ideas with the volunteers and visitors at Oxbow Eco-Center.
“Art has power to make people think and feel,” says Erin. “If we harness that power, we can make people take responsibility and make sustainable choices. We can get them to consider the small things they can do to reduce their use of plastics,” she adds.
Art made from recycled materials populates the grounds of Oxbow Eco-Center. There’s a smiling frog made from tires by the demonstration wetland garden. Fish made from tires are suspended from an oak tree near the amphitheater. Plastic bottle chandeliers fashioned in the style of glass artist Dale Chihuly hang from trees as well.
At the front door, a freestanding upright trash mosaic is under construction. Erin created a design of a roseate spoonbill sitting on a mangrove branch, which she outlined with yarn on a framed screen. Volunteers push color-coordinated bags, such as those for chips, through the holes of the screen, similar to making a punch rug using the concept of paint-by-number to create a picture.
There’s also a peacock made from recycled metal scrap, mattress springs and aluminum cans.
There are other ways Oxbow Eco-Center incorporates art and environmental learning into its programming. Every year it sponsors the Procession of the Species parade where participants choose a species, be it plant or animal, or even an Earth element, and create a costume, float or giant puppet made entirely from repurposed and recycled materials.
The St. Lucie Cultural Alliance and Oxbow Eco-Center have found common ground in fostering recycled arts projects and nature-based art. Oxbow seeks to nurture a sense of wonder and inspire stewardship for the natural world through artistic expression, collaboration and celebration. “Oxbow Eco-Center partnered with the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance because the Cultural Alliance provides a rich fabric of support and resources for the artists and the community,” says Erin. “Oxbow Eco-Center staff is good at planning events and environmental education, but the Cultural Alliance brings creativity and outside-the-box thinking to our initiatives,” she adds.
The Oxbow Eco-Center is both a nature preserve and an environmental learning center, situated on 225 acres along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River in Port St. Lucie. For more information, visit https://www.stlucieco.gov/departments-services/a-z/oxbow-eco-centerr or call 772-785-5843.
To learn more about the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance and the benefits of membership, visit ArtStLucie.org, email info@artstlucie.org or call 772-462-2783.
