Art competition for conservation.
As part of the 2024 Global Ocean Cleanup, organizations created unique artwork using marine litter collected during their beach cleanups on June 15-16, 2024. Their artwork was judged by our expert panel of judges and through an audience choice vote as part of a friendly competition aimed at raising awareness of the global plastic pollution problem. See entries and results.
Contest Entries
Marine debris artwork was created by participating organizations following their cleanups on June 15-16, 2024. Their works and the contest results can be seen here.
Art Contest Judges
We are excited to introduce our official expert judges for the 2024 Global Ocean Cleanup Art Competition. These renowned artists and ocean conservationists worked together to review and rate the artworks submitted to select a Judge's Choice Winner and Runner-Up.
Mbongeni Buthelezi
South African based artist Mbongeni Buthelezi has been working on and developing a unique technique of art making using discarded plastics of a certain quality in a melting process. He has created a new form of painting, a so-called plastic painting. His unique paintings are often larger than life, and he works both realistically and abstractly, using an extremely detailed technique. His art has been displayed in museum exhibitions, at special events worldwide, and widely featured in the media. See more at: https://www.instagram.com/buthelezimbongeniart/.
Cristina Mittermeier
Cristina is a Mexican born photographer and marine biologist who has been working for the past 25 years as a writer, conservationist, and photographer. She founded the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers, and co-founded Sea Legacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and rewildling the ocean. Cristina’s work has been published in hundreds of publications, including National Geographic, TIME, McLean's, The Men's Journal and O. Learn more about Cristina at https://cristinamittermeier.com/.
Ben J. Hicks
Ben is a south-Florida based photographer who aspires to advance the appreciation for nature and raise environmental awareness by depicting the natural world in an endearing and relevant manner that all individuals can understand and connect with. Ben is particularly focused on using his photography as a medium to communicate the importance of sea turtle conservation, as these magnificent creatures are one of the most important indicators of the health of the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems. Learn more about Ben at https://www.benjhicks.com.
Wishulada Panthanuvong
WISHULADA is a Thai artist who uses art as a means to document the amount of waste produced by our society and to inspire all people to reuse, recycle, and upcycle the things around us to maximize efficiency and reduce environmental impact. WISHULADA's work aims to drive awareness and motivate concern about environmental issues, encouraging audiences to be creative in designing production processes that consider the lifecycle of products from the beginning to the end. Learn more about WISHULADA at http://wishulada-art.com/.
Pamela Longoboardi
Pam is an Atlanta-based artist grounded in modalities of forensic investigation, action, collaborative process and social practice. Her artwork involves sculpture, installation, film, performance and social engagement, and is framed within a conversation on globalism and climate change. Pam's work addresses the geo-politics of the changing ocean as social and commodified space. In 2006, she created Drifters Project, an artistic research project focusing on contemporary global archeology: drifting plastic objects. Learn more about Pam at https://driftersproject.net/.
Courtney Mattison
Courtney is a Los Angeles-based artist who hand-crafts intricate and large-scale sculptural works that visualize climate change through the fragile beauty of marine life. Her background in marine conservation science informs her work, which has been commissioned and shown worldwide. Her work has been featured on the covers of American Craft, Beaux Arts Magazine and Brown Alumni Magazine, and by Smithsonian Magazine, Good Morning America, Oprah Magazine and BBC World Service. Learn more about Courtney at https://courtneymattison.com/.
Contest Rules
The Art Competition of the 2024 Global Ocean Cleanup campaign is a friendly contest among official participants in the cleanup campaign.
Each participating project will create and document a piece of artwork using waste collected during their cleanup and provide a statement about their entry. Judges will review their submissions and collaborate to determine a Judge's Choice Winner and Runner-Up, each of which will receive an additional $500 toward their ocean conservation work. We will also hold an online vote to determine an Audience Choice winner, which will also receive an additional $500 toward their work.