Community Weaving Project with Sarah Thornington

This free pop-in family activity will take place on Saturday, March 28, from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm, and will coincide with the Through Young Eyes (TYE) Opening Reception, held the same day from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

Using a fishing net rescued from the sea, kids of all ages will work together under the guidance of artivist Sarah Jane Thornington to create a large, collaborative weaving. As the artwork grows, participants will chat, share stories, and learn about the many objects found in the ocean—and how they get there. Every knot, weave, and found treasure helps tell the story of the sea and the life it supports.

The project incorporates marine debris collected during beach cleanups, as well as ghost gear—ropes, nets, and other fishing materials that were lost or abandoned and later washed ashore. These materials are transformed into a meaningful and visually striking piece of community art.

Participants may stay for the full program or drop in and contribute a few pieces at their own pace. No art experience is required—just curiosity and creativity. Families are also welcome to bring their own clean items found during beach walks or cleanups to add to the weaving.

This collaborative experience invites families to make art, learn together, and give ocean debris a second life—one story at a time.

Sarah Jane Thornington, conservation artivist, has lived and created on Cape Cod for more than 30 years. She loves to create using found items, being a portrait photographer, of course, with photography, but also alternative photographic processes such as cyanotypes. Sarah loves to try new things, has braided rugs for her stairs from old suit coats, skirts and wool blankets; weaves bowls from the ghost net fishing gear she finds; rust prints with objects she finds at the beach during her clean ups, and is always experimenting with the plastics she finds; from monoprinting to mosaic-ing to creating tigers and other endangered species.

Her conservation–marine-debris art is currently in collections at the Center for Coastal Studies and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, and she in previous shows across New England. Her work is in collections across the country and abroad. Sarah is a believer in the power of positivity and tries to spread awareness of such a tragic problem in a fun and creative way. She believes finding wonder in the world is the very best thing we can do to protect our environment.

Ebb the Tide @EbbtheTide Instagram and Facebook

 presented in conjunction with

THROUGH YOUNG EYES

22nd Annual Student Art Exhibition at the Cape Cod Museum of Art

March 27, 20206 - May 17, 2026