- All right, y'all.
All hour we're celebrating how artistic expression
can help us all heal.
My next guest's creations don't just keep her grounded,
they're helping heal the oceans.
She uses garbage she finds along the Oregon coastline
and crafts spectacular sculptures.
She's what we call a whole lotta woman!
(bouncy, high-energy music)
All right, y'all, so from the nonprofit Washed Ashore,
let's say hi to Angela Haseltine Pozzi!
What's up, Angela, how you doin'?
- Hi! Great, I'm really excited to be here, thank you.
- I am very honored to have you on the show,
so tell us about the piece
you're standing next to right now.
- Well, this is Zora Belle the rock hopper penguin.
She is all made of garbage picked up up off of beaches.
So all this junk that she's made of was all in the ocean,
and we try to build these so that
you can see things you recognize,
like here's a rice paddle and a flip-flop and a toy
and a handle and a brush
and there are the flip-flop straps.
Like, that's actually what this is,
my necklace is made of, is garbage.
- Really?
- Yes, so this is actually flip-flop straps
and water bottles and stuff, so
- You are so talented to take something that's so negative
and make it a positive,
is such an intriguing, innovative and just cool thing, man.
Where do you show your work?
Where can people find it?
- Well, we've made about 80 sculptures in the last 10 years
out of about 28 tons of garbage,
and those have turned into four traveling exhibits,
so we tour them all around the country.
People actually lease our exhibits, zoos and aquariums,
we've been at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum,
where we still have a piece.
The shows we have up right now, which are closed
because of COVID-19, but will open up soon
are in the Florida Aquarium in Tampa,
the Oregon Zoo and Oakland Zoo.
And then we also have our work in our gallery right here,
and I could give you a sneak peek
if we just move this camera.
- Yes! Give me a sneak peek!
Thank you!
- (chuckling) So this is some of our other work,
and so we have a whole show in Bandon-by-the-Sea,
a little tiny tourist town.
And here we have Bella the angelfish,
we have a whalebone ribcage that you can walk through.
- [Kelly] Wow!
- And all of our stuff (plastic rattling)
is meant to be touched.
So this is all made of water bottles (bottles rattling)
and we don't color-dye anything,
this is all the colors that plastic comes in.
- So you say there's a reason your sculptures
are so big though, right?
- Yeah, and let me go back over to Zora Belle here,
and part of that is that we like
to actually have
lotsa people helping us,
so the bigger the piece is, that means more people
can get involved and one of the things I love
about Washed Ashore is we are proof
that your every action does count.
Every piece of plastic was picked up by one person,
and another person, another person,
drilled it, sorted it, whatever.
So when they're really big you can't ignore them,
but it also means lots of people were able to contribute
to make that piece,
and then that was their education and their awakening.
And they're contributing to something bigger than themselves
so we like to say everybody working together
can make big amazing things happen,
and we like to be proof of that.
- Well we have a 10 year old budding artist
joining us after the break who uses methods
similar to Angela's.
This young girl has no idea
Angela is going to help kick-start her career.
Angela, can you hide yourself so we can surprise her?
- You bet.
- Do you mind hiding? Okay.
All right, y'all, our next guest is in the fifth grade
and recently discovered her love for making art
out of recycled material.
Let's everybody, let's welcome Ashlyn.
Ashlyn, are you there?
- Yes, hi Kelly!
- Hi! Oh my gosh, you're so cute
to be so young and talented, you little bitty cute thing!
So Ashlyn, tell us about the pieces that you have here.
Who's that, is that Kobe?
- Yes, that is Kobe Bryant and Aretha Franklin.
- Wooo, my favorite singer, you get it!
I love it, that is amazing!
So have you always been interested in art, Ashlyn?
- Yes I have, since I was a little girl,
I have always been playing with Play-Do and finger painting.
And then until last year I had an option
to go into a summer camp so I chose that option
and there we made hammered metal,
we painted and drew, but the one that stood out to me most
was recycled textile art.
- That's so cool, what an amazing camp.
I wanna send my kids to that camp, that seems so,
I wanna go to the camp, I'm 38.
(giggles) Ashlyn, where do you get all your materials
since you like to work from recycled material?
- I get all my materials from my parents' friends from work
and when I go on a walk outside I find rocks and flowers
for my art piece - Yeah?
And I sometimes stop my family from throwing away stuff
and I ask myself, "Can I use this for my next art piece?"
- All right, well, Ashlyn, I think
the coolest part of what you do is that you say
that your art isn't just about looking good.
There's a message about showing,
especially children your age, and everybody,
how to not waste so much and renew, reuse, recycle, right?
- Yes, I try to keep the stuff
that we're about to throw away
out of the landfills and help save the environment.
By saving the environment, I can make cool art
and cool creations at the same time.
- Yeah, and you're helpin' the planet.
So where do you hope your art goes from here?
- In the future I hope my, I hope I can keep making
my recycled art and I hope I can get in at gallery
on this way.
- Well Ashlyn, I really want you meet someone, as well.
Angela, can you pop back in here?
- Yes.
- So Ashlyn, Angela is an accomplished artist
who makes awesome giant sculptures out of trash.
Her work has been featured in the most important museums
all over the country,
and she has something to share with you.
So Angela, what do you think of Ashlyn's work?
- Oh, Ashlyn, I just thought it was was really, really cool.
You're doing some amazing work for your age,
and I love the way that you have these kind of heroes
that you're depicting as well,
so you're connecting with your subject matter.
So I was wondering, if you're thinking about being an artist
if you would be interested, if I could offer you
some sort of like tutoring or classes, you know maybe
- Like a mentorship, 'cause she has galleries as well,
she has shows.
She already does, Angela, so may she could teach you
how to do that as well and get that all together.
- Give you a few tips here and there,
what do you think of that idea?
- Yes, I love it, thank you.
- Oh, cool.
If we could meet like every other week or something
and I could sorta see what you're doing,
I could show you my studio,
and then when this whole thing opens up
and it's safe to travel,
I'd like to have you come out and work with Washed Ashore
and just sorta, you know, hang out here a little bit.
- Yay!
- Ashlyn, you are very, very gifted, girl.
I mean, I cannot wait to see, you two, I mean,
you get to be mentored by this amazingly creative artist
that has, she just showed me her studio,
you're gonna freak out when you see it. (laughs)
But I can't wait to see your gallery one day, too,
but we actually have a little surprise, okay?
With the help of Jamaica Tourist Board,
our friends at Palace Resorts are sending both of you
and your families on an ocean cleanup trip
to Moon Palace, Jamaica when it's safe,
when we can all travel.
- No way!
- Yes!
- Jamaica?
- They share your passion for keeping our oceans clean
- Oh my gosh, that's incredible!
- Yes! Oh, I'm not done.
It includes luxurious accommodations, several pools,
a kids' water park, there you go, Ashlyn,
I mean Angela also, if you're a kid at heart.
- I wanna go on the water park!
- I know, me too, I'm the same, and it has a wave simulator,
which is super cool, and endless beaches to create art from.
And they love what you all do,
and they just wanna show you all some love
and give you all some opportunity
to build some amazing pieces of art.
- Wow.
- Thank you so much.
- All right, well, thank you Angela and Ashlyn.