Gulf Coast "Green Tees for Our Seas" Contest Winner

The winner of our Green Tees for Our Seas T-shirt design contest is 15-year-old Carmen, a 10th grader from Charlottesville High School in Virginia. Congratulations Carmen!

Carmen's winning design features an oil-splattered dolphin in mid-jump with the words, "Please Save Me!" Carmen's design was chosen by popular vote. Nearly 600 folks voted on the artwork. Thanks to everyone who submitted a design and voted for their favorite!

You can order this beautiful design on our eco-friendly Youth and Adult T-shirts from earth creations' online store.  Orders will begin shipping around Dec. 2.

Remember, half the money goes to the Weeks Bay Foundation  to help with preservation efforts in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast oil spill. The Weeks Bay Foundation supports the goals and programs of the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve here in Alabama.

Thank you for your support!

 

WINNER! Ranked 4.5 out of 5 Dolphin - Please Save Us From Carmen, a 15-year-old, 10th grade art student at Charlottesville High School in Virginia: "I thought about the animals and I wanted the animals to be OK. I love animals. Animals are like us, like humans, and they deserve an environment that is good and clean, like we do. It feels pretty good to be a nationwide contest winner. I've never been this excited in my whole entire life. I am very proud of what I've done and my family will hopefully be proud of me too." From Rachel Pompano: Charlottesville High School 9-12th grade art teacher: " I am so proud of ALL of my art students for choosing to enter this contest, and representing our high school so well. I was thrilled to see how many of my students recognized the importance of this contest, and really seemed to care about the environment and what happened in the Gulf Coast. I am especially happy for and proud of Carmen, whose design was unique and truly her best effort. She is an unbelievably hard-working, loving, creative, and special young lady, and I couldn't be happier for her!"

Ranked 4.12 out of 5 Help Clean Up By Vail Artwork description: This drawing is representative of the mess in the gulf and how we can all reach out to help clean it up. It is our reponsibility to keep what is a part of us beautiful and natural. This design was drawn by Vail, a 9th grader in Virginia. She is happy she got to do something to help raise awareness and do a part to help.

Ranked 3.99 out of 5 Pelican By Gregg This design is meant to evoke the feeling of change, motion, moving forward. The design is circular to represent the cycles of nature and the Gulf. The wave encircling the pelican is meant to show the oil being pulled from the water and off of the animals, being lifted and then finally dispersed. There is also a slight nod to the yin yang symbol to remind us that all things have their counterparts. Even terrible events are balanced by positive forces.

Ranked 3.81 out of 5 Save The Gulf By Hannah This is a simple and straight-forward design showing the oil spill as a wound on the Earth, and the controversy of oil drilling as simply covered up by a "bandage" and not really dealt with.

Ranked 3.77 out of 5 No Laughing Matter By Christie The laughing gull is such an intricate part of the beach experience. They may not be as magnificent as pelicans plunging into the water for a fish or a pod of dolphins playing in the waves. They are a predictable element, a member of the sea community that may even be taken for granted at times. Yet, there they are at the waters edge waiting for their next meal. It is hard to imagine the Gulf Shore without them. The silence would be deafening.

Ranked 3.61 out of 5 Save The Wildlife By Sophie A line design of a sea turtle. This design was hand drawn by Sophie, a 10th grade art student.

Ranked 3.33 out of 5 Gulf Cool Line Art By Lane Multi-colored line design depicting the Gulf. This design was hand drawn by Lane, a 12th grade art student.

Ranked 2.99 out of 5 Sargassum Tree of Life By Nancy Sargassum is a seaweed that provides crucial habitat for a wide variety of marine animals. Red Snapper is among the most ecologically and economically important reef fishes in the Gulf. A message of hope in a bottle, Gulf oil clean up 2010.

Ranked 2.53 out of 5 Oil Spill/Leak By Mary I saw on the pavement the Gulf without waves, The ocean in a drop, the spill in a leak, My eyes of a fish, my mouth as a beak; I saw the master - we, the energy slaves.