Last Wednesday, I had the chance to screen David Brown’s Film, Fragile Legacy centering around the work of Drew Harvell on her preservation of sea creatures and the sustainability of marine ecosystems. Our discussion initially started out with a little bit of a background on Blaschka glass pieces, which originated from Leopold Blaschka and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son glassworkers who produced some of the most breathtaking and unimagenably detailed glass objects of marine life. They opened a new bridge between biodiversity and curious minds on land. They allowed direct access to ocean environment, which our co- founder Andrew Dickson White decided to take advantage off and authorized the purchase of 570 pieces of Blaschka models to be used for the purpose of teaching about marine biology. Today Drew Harvell, propagates the art of Blaschka glass models by finding living representatives in the ocean and restoring pieces which have been damaged over time.

We additionally touched upon other concerning issues that are endangering marine life, particularly sea stars. The cause of the disappearing of these creatures is a virus outbreak, which is unfortunately out of our control and a result of ecological changes.