Drew Harvell’s talk was really beautiful through the lens of art. The way she used the Blashka art to reveal the beauty and importance of marine life today was really impactful. The talk gave a new importance and meaning to art as a method of education.

I was really inspiring to see how accurate the glass marine life was to the actual animals, and how they were made in the 1800s. I had the opportunity to check out the actual pieces in the Mann Library exhibition, and they were really beautiful.

The art also made it very evident that species were growing endangered. All though we all know that certain marine life is growing endangered and extinct, it is not tangible to us how much the sea life is actually changing. The Blachkas did an amazing job making the changes in marine life evident and tangible.

It was also very interesting to hear about the virus causing Sea Star death along the Pacific Coast. As a child growing up on the West Coast, I had often seen Sea Stars in tide pools. However, last summer, while I was visiting with my family, we saw only a couple sea stars. We had know idea why they were disappearing. Thanks to Dr. Harvell and her team, we now know why.