Sophia Shannon’s “Entangled rights” - 2025 Winner

Sophia Shannon’s “Entangled rights” 
Sculpture & Mixed Media: Discarded fishing gear, plywood, and found objects from the beach 
Bowdoin, ME 

During my senior year of high school, I undertook a capstone project that had to capture both my learnings and aspirations. One evening, I learned from the news about the decline in the right whale population due to ship strikes and fishing gear. The population is also finding it difficult to adapt to its warming environments. Today, the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than any other ocean surface on the planet. The effects of this are altering the whale's migrating habits due to changes in food sources. Unfortunately, these new migration patterns are leading the whales into less protected areas where they are more vulnerable to entanglements and ship strikes. This issue deeply affected me and fueled my creativity. I wondered how I could create an art piece that would be both visually compelling and educational for the public.