A BIG surprise today…Winona from the JaxParks’ After School Program came by in a big van to drop off about 1000 completed bottles. “There’s more coming!” she said as we hauled them into the studio. A great effort by the kids and the teachers. A huge contribution to the wall.
Eric Simmons and Sandra Lockley at the Wesconnett Branch Library called and said they had a full receptacle of bottles to pick up. Yay! Most of these were dropped off by individuals…we thank you all. Each and every bottle helps us to build a bigger wall for all to see.
The Key Club at Oakleaf HS in Orange Park collected over 500 bottles with messages during a week long effort. The project was introduced to the students by Kiwanis member (and our good friend) Steve Arrington. The club members were all on hand today as Kiwanis President Christopher Lawrence recognized the club. It takes a lot of effort to collect, clean, dry out, and obtain messages. These students did it! We thank you!
The Art Center brought another BIG bag of bottles. These were empty and were quickly deployed by Dorian to another group collecting messages. Thanks everyone for your contributions…keep it coming!
Many thanks to Mike Woodward who brought the project to Boy Scout Troop 473. They delivered a great batch of bottles with messages, thanks guys!
The Mandarin Regional Jacksonville Public Library on Kori Road held an event for students where Dorian was able to present our project and stir up some interest. The students always seem eager to help. We collected completed bottles and signed up a few volunteers. The receptacles in the libraries were specially prepared for us by the art students at Atlantic Coast HS.
A BIG thank you goes out to teacher Karyn Chester and all the great students at Camden County High School in Kingsland, GA. Dorian picked up 2 huge bags of bottles (well over 500) with messages collected by a collaboration of the school’s ROTC and FFA (Future Farmers of America) organizations. They collected empty bottles, cleaned and dried them out, and then set up tables to collect messages from the students. It all started when one of Ms. Chester’s students visited us at Art Walk and brought the idea back to her teacher. “Yes, we can do this!” and they did. We’ll have the final count in a few days after Dorian logs all of the messages in. What a great effort by the Wildcats!
The artists at The Art Center have been quietly collecting bottles for many weeks and today Ed Malesky dropped off a bag of 70 bottles. A BIG thanks goes out to Mary, Marsha, Ed, and the gang at the cooperative for collecting at Art Walk and supporting our project. Check out The Art Center galleries downtown at 31 West Adams and in the Bank of America Tower (near the main lobby). You can drop your bottles off at any of the Art Center locations.
The January JPL newsletter contains a story about our project along with the now famous rendering provided by artist Robert Leedy. There are now 5 bottle receptacles located at the following libraries around town:
Main Library
303 N. Laura Street [32202]
Charles Webb Wesconnett Regional
6887 103rd Street [32210]
Pablo Creek Regional
13295 Beach Blvd [32246]
Mandarin Regional
3330 Kori Road [32257]
Southeast Regional
10599 Deerwood Park Blvd [32256]
Details, hours, and phone numbers can be found on the Bottle Drop Off page.
Things were slow at the studio for Art Walk due to the cold weather, but it was hopping at MOCA where Dorian had her table set up. Entertainment was provided by Phillip Pan, Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony. A great night with several volunteers signing up and over 90 messages collected. MOCA has been a great supporter of the project and we’ll be back next month…thanks!
