Mrs. McKinney’s Sculpture Class and Ms. Van Veenhuyzen’s AP and Advanced Art students visited the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center on a field trip last week to find the artistic qualities of art in sea life.

Primarily, the field trip’s purpose was to educate students about how art can bring awareness to certain issues, and to teach them new ways to embrace creativity. Students were split up into groups to observe the troll sculptures carefully, and to admire their complexity up close.

“Our students will be creating silverpoint composition projects inspired by our trip; we can’t wait to show the school’s students and staff.” Van Veenhuyzen said. “The Art department appreciates the support students are given for these amazing experiences.”

Thomas Dambo is a recycle artist and activist who strives to create art that helps to save the world from “drowning in trash.” Primarily, he creates wooden statues in the form of trolls. Six of his trolls are currently featured in the aquarium, each with their own story.

The troll tribe’s goal is to bring awareness about nature and to encourage individuals to be mindful of their impact on the environment. All of Dambo’s pieces are made from recycled materials, and his goal is to inspire visitors to create sustainable, whimsical, and poetic artwork such as his.

“I liked how the trolls were able to take something that you wouldn’t necessarily think you’d see, such as garbage, and put it to new use. Overall it was very beautiful and I think it gave me a lot of inspiration to be able to use everyday resources around me to make something irregular and surreal,” junior Sage Roberts said.

Throughout the day, students were also able to pull new ideas from the colorful displays of the other exhibits such as the touch tanks, the shark habitats, the informational sections of the aquarium, and various other locations.