Meet the Artists.

The 2022 Streams of Hope Artists

Title: Earth Is What We Have In Common

Artist: Tiffany Baca

City: Garden Grove

“Since the beginning of time, people have depended on resources from the Earth for everything we need for survival and for the health and prosperity of our communities. If we don’t have healthy ecosystems, we don’t have healthy people, plants, or animals. At that point, every system we depend on begins to break down, from the land to the sea. I am an optimist. I see the gifts that a healthy environment provides when we take care of it. We use less water when we plant California natives that thrive in our semi-arid climate. That means less harmful runoff and more water saved when we need it. When we put garbage in the trashcan where it belongs, we protect the land and sea that nourish us. We don’t get another chance. We are all powerfully part of the solution.” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Garden Grove

Title: Hands For Hope

Artists: Students of Hope School

City: Buena Park

“The artists that contributed to this Stella statuette represent a portion of the seven million people of all ages and abilities that participate in Very Special Arts programs each year. VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, was founded 35 years ago to recognize the vital role of arts education for students with disabilities. The Art students at Hope School, in Buena Park, part of the Anaheim Union High School District, all lent a hand to this project. The use of hands in this piece signifies their abilities rather than their disabilities. These hands represent our students autonomy, their individuality, their tenacity to reach the world as best as they possibly can. Their hands are often their independence, their communication and their best means of living a life with purpose and fulfillment. Their hands represent their freedom.” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Buena Park

Title: Set In Motion, A Change For The Ocean

Artist: Bonnie Matthews

City: Costa Mesa

Art is the perfect language that promotes discussion, shares a message and hopefully inspires change. The painting of my “Stella” whale depicts a variety of kids and people doing an ocean cleanup. They are surrounded by happy fish and a happy snorkeler enjoying the water. My colorful whimsical style is inviting rather than deterring people from looking away. My hope is that the whale, sponsored by the Mesa Water District, will offer kids and parents in the community to have a conversation about what they are seeing. I’m hoping that will engage them to ask questions and think twice about how their lives affects the ocean life and also where their water supply comes from. Each one of us has the opportunity to change the trajectory of the oceans, as well as be conservative stewards for maintaining our drinking water. Everything we do on the land affects everything that lives in the ocean and how our future depends on doing our part.

Additional support for this piece provided by Mesa Water

Title: Land & Sea — Everyone Belongs, Part 1

Artists: Disneyland Resort – Alexa Garcia, Arielle Harris, Megan Matsumoto

City: Anaheim

“Led by Environmental Affairs Department at Disney Resorts, these vibrant works of color represent the inclusion of everyone in the stewardship of our environmental resources, both on land and at sea.” Additional support for this piece provided by Disneyland Resorts

Title: Fostering Hope

Artists: Katy Wright

City: Fountain Valley

“Some work wills itself into existence. I’ve always taken the approach of “See what work your heart and mind will create.” I had just watched the documentary “Washed Ashore: Art To Save The Sea” on YouTube. I was excited to try to emulate Angela Heseltine Pozzi’s work mixing art and recycled ocean debris. Since time was limited, I wasn’t able to source much actual ocean debris for Stella, but am amassing a small inventory for future projects.” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Fountain Valley

Title: We All Live Downstream From Someone

Artists: Sharon Frances, with Therese Verner, Gillian Chappell, Matthew Rodriguez

City: Huntington Beach

“Our whale illustrates the vibrant beauty of Huntington Beach's natural landscape and the power of humans to know, care and act as nature’s stewards. Using a combination of glass, ceramic, found nature and trash on a painted background, the whale highlights the flora and fauna of the Bolsa Chica Reserve Area. Waves throughout the whale are created with pieces of trash picked up during a one-hour cleanup of Huntington Beach. The waves are lined with mirrored glass to reflect our impact on the habitat and our personal responsibility to address environmental problems humans have created.” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Huntington Beach & OS Pier LLC

Title: Water Is Life

Artist: Laura Svette

City: Huntington Beach

“As an artist, I am always inspired by the giving aspect or having purpose in my art. My motto with most everything, is leave it better than you found it. Every time we are at the beach or even walking down the street, we are picking up trash to help in the efforts to keep our waters clean. I really hope my artwork inspires others to open their eyes to the beauty all around them and how it is all connected. Water is the lifeblood of all living things!” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Huntington Beach & OS Pier LLC

Title: From The Mountains To The Surf

Artists: Rick Blake, Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum

City: Huntington Beach

“I live in Huntington Beach and am interested in the wetlands if Bolsa Chica and the history of this area. The history of the Santa Ana River and watershed has greatly changed the face of our environment and is incredibly important for the well-being of a coastal community and life at the beach. I am an art teacher at a public school here in Orange County and a Surfer and very interested in keeping the ocean clean and unpolluted by keeping in mind that everything “Drains to the Ocean.” This artwork will hopefully touch some people who want to create a better environment through planting drought tolerant plants or by conserving water or by just being aware of the watershed and beauty of our natural coastline.” Additional support for this piece provided by the city of Huntington Beach

Title: Live Free

Artists: Dave Reynolds

City: Huntington Beach

“During the planning phase of Streams of Hope I was asked by the Wyland Foundation to help develop the Stella displays. I am stoked and honored they approved my prototype then asked me to build all the Stella pieces. I’m an artist and a craftsman. I guess I’m qualified. I chose to design my Stella in a wild way! I imagined if God gave me the opportunity to design some marine life. What would I do? Some artists paint what they see…some don’t. They say God made us in His likeness. A God like thing is being a creator. We’re not at His level but we have the ability to create some incredible things.” Additional support for this piece provided by the Wyland Foundation

Title: Balloons In My Belly

Artists: Nancy Thompson

City: Laguna Beach

“I heard about the Streams of Hope campaign from my husband Mike. I love painting and during the pandemic filled my home with colorful pop art. My husband felt I should put my talents toward supporting a good cause. When not painting, I prefer spending time in the ocean Stand up Paddle boarding. The amount of balloons and plastic debris I find floating is sickening. With my Stella the Whale, I put mylar balloons in her belly. I hope this will cause people to think twice about releasing helium balloons into the sky.” Additional support for this piece provided by the Laguna Beach Water District

Title: You Are What You Eat

Artists: Benida Solow

City: Laguna Beach

I share the Wyland Foundation’s vision of “bringing people together for clean water and a healthy ocean through art, science, conservation, education, or business”. So I have created “Stella”, the gray whale calf covered in trash that I collected over just 3 walks along a few of Laguna’s Beaches in the hope that you, the viewer, will see how important it is to prevent trash and plastic in particular (it doesn’t go away; it just becomes smaller pieces that get eaten by sea creatures) from entering any of our natural environment. Together we can do this by using no single use plastics. Encourage corporations to go back to using reusable containers, eco-friendly biodegradable plastics. Always dispose of all trash properly in the appropriate trash or recycle bin! If you can’t find a recycle bin, take it with you until you find one. I invite you to join me in making everyday Earth Day! Dry the tear that is falling from Stella’s eye! Additional support for this piece provided by the Laguna Beach Water District

Title: Stella’s Sunset Journey

Artists: Wyland

City: Laguna Beach

“Gray whales are one of my favorite animals. They have overcome so much as a species. They were nearly driven extinct by commercial whaling. They’ve faced constant threats to their marine habitat. The fact that these beautiful gentle animals survived is a miracle in itself. I’ve spent so much time in the Sea of Cortez admiring them and appreciating them. This project is about all of us doing our part as individuals to reduce the pollution that finds its way to the ocean. It was an honor to create this piece to celebrate the life of this little whale.”

Title: All The Water In The World

Artist: Roger Eyes R

City: Santa Ana

“I was very familiar with Wyland’s work and his foundation’s efforts in bringing attention to water consciousness. A friend and contemporary brought up the new Streams of Hope project in conversation and informed me of their Stella campaign. The wide blank surface space of the Stella statuette was motivation enough for me to get started … Picasso once said, “Inspiration exists, it just needs to find you working” I made this my motto and live by it, but I suppose a case can be made for music as an interest that influences my work.” Additional support for this piece provided by the City of Santa Ana