By The Ocean Resiliency fundraiser gala was held at the Aquarium of the Pacific Tuesday night to raise money for the CSULB Shark Lab and the Aquarium of the Pacific.
The event highlighted the work of Danielle Eubank, a sustainable artist who recently completed a 20-year quest around the world to capture the state of the oceans in her paintings.
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In her paintings, Eubank mixes abstract styles and realism to create scenes of the major bodies of water of the world.
A 2018 Creative Climate Award nominee and the awardee of the WCA/United Nations Program Honor Roll Award for 2019, Eubank uses her works to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on marine life.
“I’ve learned a lot throughout my voyages and I’ve seen global warming with my own eyes,” Eubank said.
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At the event, Shark Lab director Chris Lowe expressed the importance that the role that sharks play in the ocean environment and spoke about the research that the lab conducts at CSULB.
“We need to reach out to people,” Lowe said. “Events like tonight show that the collaboration of art and science can help send the message across.”
Lowe was part of a scientific panel that discussed the problems, such as air pollution and rising water levels, that the city of Long Beach currently faces.
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Among the panelists were Justin Luedy, environmental specialist assistant for the Port of Long Beach, Alison Spindler, planner and budget specialist at the city of Long Beach, and Jennifer Lentz, education and science programs coordinator at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Each panelist displayed examples of their work and shared some of their futuristic visions of a better environment.
“We worked together with the Port of Los Angeles to keep our area clean,” Luedy said. “We know the importance of resiliency.”
Lentz pointed out that making even slight changes in daily routines can add up to large changes in the climate crisis. Some of the changes include hanging up black curtains to drop temperature, using LED lights at home and limiting showers to three minutes, she said.
“We are facing climate change right now,” Lentz said. “This is not a problem for our future generations.”
