FREEPORT, Bahamas -- Steve Loar, Professor of Art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania brought his top eleven students from his Three Dimensional Design class to Grand Bahama Island invited by The Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee and Cristina Zenato, UNEXSO.

One Island is a university-based research programme that investigates methods for creating art from common waste materials of the global consumer society. Steve and One Island were invited by Cristina Zenato of UNEXSO and Keep Grand Bahama Clean to create a sculpture from marine debris found on the beaches of Grand Bahama. The goal was to make a sculpture to be a gateway or portal to the UNEXSO Museum upstairs. The sculpture also had to be mobile in case it is moved to another gallery location on island.

On Saturday, 9^th June, 2012, One Island did an Art Remediation Workshop that was open to the public. Members of the Grand Bahama Artists Association and students young and old took advantage of One Island’s expertise and got hands on experience creating 3 Dimensional sculptures from plastic marine debris.

Steve’s students treated UNEXSO like a “client”.   The art making material is virtually free since it is discarded plastic. The project introduced people to using power tools. Drills, hair dryers, hot glue guns, slots, tabs, weaving are some of the tools used.

Brandon McDonald, 20, a student of Steve’s, related that two beaches were cleaned by the group in order to get materials for the project. According to Brandon, “The people here are extremely friendly. I have been interested in Art since I was very young. I am a One Island administrator.

My aim is to teach at the college level and continue with the reef project. Plastic is harmful to the environment. Art remediation has a stronger message. The material is free, juice bottles etc so there is no cost for the art materials. We provide connectors, tools, common screws, bolts, pop rivets, zip ties.”

Being chosen to participate in the One Island programme is an honour. Students chosen have created the most unique sculptures and have worked late in the studio at the University.   In previous years, One Island has visited Andros, Scotland and Ireland.

One of the techniques used involves a heat gun. Detergent bottles become soft and malleable when treated with heat. Then different objects can be used to create different textures and shapes. Soda bottles crinkle up to create waves. Marli Swope was creating an octopus using a beachball , a nerf ball bottle caps, fasteners, zip ties and braided rope. She aspires to be an Art Teacher for K through 12 with emphasis on elementary.

Kayla Ihrig worked with a young Bahamian student teaching her how to make a pufferfish out of a milk jug using spikes cut from a soda bottle. Kayla is the recipient of an Indiana University undergraduate scholars research grant. She will build a shelter using Tidy Cat buckets filled with plastic bags for insulation in August and live in it for two weeks.

The finished sculpture was unveiled at UNEXSO on Friday, 15^th June, 2012. Indiana University of Pennsylvania students who were chosen to participate in this One Island project are: Brandon McDonald, Marli Swope, Kayla Ihrig, Andrea Petrillo, Rachel Knopf, Christina Cassone, Catherine Caulfield, Brittany Persun, Haley Woodley, Victoria Harris and Ryan Frith.  The One Island website is: www.oneisland.us. For more information Steve Loar can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .