Recently, 35 volunteers participated in a public art project at the Suffolk Art Gallery, designed to raise awareness of marine debris, particularly rubber balloons. More than 11,000 littered balloons and ribbons, collected on remote Virginia beaches by researchers with Clean Virginia Waterways, were donated to the project. Thomas Shirk, welding instructor at the College and Career Academy at Pruden, and six students produced two beautiful metal pieces – a butterfly and a sea turtle--to hold the balloons. Art teachers at three public high schools solicited volunteers to fill the sculptures with the debris. The colorful sculptures are now on display at the North Suffolk Library.