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Artist tries to save oceans one class at a time by Dominik Kurek Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene 17 | Wednesday, July 10, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Anyone who has seen the work of Oakville artist Andrea Seibt will know the painter loves the oceans and waters of the world. You may not know, however, that she is also a marine biologist. Though she left the scientific career behind when she and her husband, along with their schoolaged children, came to Canada from Germany approximately 10 years ago, she is still trying to protect the oceans. "I have three children and I want them to enjoy the beauty of those oceans as I did," she said. Seibt has been working to raise awareness about protecting the oceans through her art, and now she's started doing it by educating young people through presentations in local classrooms. "Now, I'm feeling desperate for another outlet to get the word out other than my artwork alone, which always causes great conversations when people come to my shows," she said. Seibt noted this is a new approach to what she has always been doing, and now she's trying to get children involved in saving the world's oceans, even if she does it one classroom at a time. "I'm a strong believer that every little drop fills a bucket at one point," she said. Seibt has developed a curriculum-based presentation that is geared towards Grades 7 and 8 Oakville artist Andrea Seibt stands infront of one of her art pieces. The marine biologist visits local classrooms to educate students about protecting the world's oceans and waterways. | submitted photo students, though it can be altered for younger and older audiences, and teaches children about such things as pollution in the oceans, plastic garbage and over-fishing. She said many people aren't even aware of a large garbage patch that's floating in the oceans. "This is a third of the size of North America. This is unbelievably huge and many people don't even know," she said. "Unfortunately, the oceans have no border so the currents transport that stuff everywhere, even the remote, beautiful South Pacific islands, they get all our garbage on their beaches and they didn't even do it." After sharing the oceanic problems, Seibt discusses with the students what can be done about it and what choices people can make in their daily lives that can protect the waters. The marine biology lecture is then followed by an art session with Seibt during a follow-up visit to the classroom. Students get to express their feelings about the oceans through painting. Afterwards, Seibt photographs the paintings and prints them. The students then write on the backs of the prints, asking the government to make changes to protect the oceans. She then mails out the letters to government officials. Seibt studied marine biology in Frankfurt, Germany and wrote her thesis about the Mediterranean Sea at the University of Florence. She then went on to work in a number of research projects through a partnership between Frankfurt and Florence. She has also done lectures and presentations. Seibt is also a scuba diver and was able to personally collect research materials in the water, make observations, and install monitorsee `I on p.18 Some things are just better together. #itsbettertogether facebook.com/flyerland.ca @flyerland