FSU Art Professor Designs Installation that will Develop into a Natural Oyster Reef

FSU professor of art, Carolyn Henne, has adapted marine scientist Niels Lindquist and commercial fisherman Clammerhead “David” Cessna’s invention of a biodegradable hardscape named Oyster Catcher™, to sculpt an oyster reef. Once in place, natural processes over several years will transform the Oyster Catcher™ sculpture into a vibrant, living oyster reef, providing shelter and foraging habitat for fishes, crabs and shorebirds, and a sustainable source of nutritious food for people.

Henne  dreamed up Sea Stars with its constellations of life-sized synchronized swimmers and a larger-than-life octopus companion. Lindquist believes “Sea Stars speaks to the ‘coastal condition’ epitomized by the entanglement of human and natural communities, sustainable exploitation of nature and change.”

Sea Stars will spring to life late May 2021 in the Newport River near Beaufort, North Carolina (34.74105 N; 76.67202 W) on Sandbar Oyster Company’s (co-founded by Clammerhead and Lindquist) inter-tidal shellfish lease named “The Spa”. Sea Stars will be “framed” with a narrow oyster reef created with Oyster Catcher™ Tables.

For more information and images, visit https://www.carolynhenne.com/work-2/star.

To make a tax-deductible donation to support the Sea Stars project, send a check to the North Carolina Coastal Federation (3609 N.C. 24, Newport, NC 28570) with “Sea Stars” in the memo line, or scan the QR Code to go to the NCCF sponsored Sea Stars donation webpage.