A visual storyteller of natural history and an artist who paints Long Island Sound shellfish are recipients of the 2024 Connecticut Sea Grant Arts Support Award.
The awards will support the completion of a photo book to complement a documentary about the Atlantic flyway created by Tomas Koeck of Fairfield, and a series of 30 paintings of oysters, clams, whelks and scallops and the environments they inhabit by Edith Reynolds of West Haven.
“It’s been a joy to produce Flyway of Life,” Koeck said about his documentary about Atlantic flyway bird migrations from Manitoba, Canada, to Costa Rica. “This grant will help fund a 210-page coffee table book of flyway stories, including those from Connecticut and other parts of New England.”
Koeck began the documentary project two years ago as part of his master’s degree studies in media arts at Sacred Heart University, traveling from the subarctic to subtropical regions to film selected animals from warblers to polar bears. He plans to debut Flyway of Life in downtown Fairfield in April at the Sacred Heart Community Theater, accompanied by a photo exhibit at the Bruce S. Kershner Gallery and release of the book.
His interest in natural history and birds began as a child, when he would often visit Connecticut Audubon Society preserves with his mother, brother and sister. He started college studying dendrology, but when he “picked up a camera for fun” and began using it to tell stories about the natural world, he found his true passion.
“I look forward to the premier of Flyway of Life in April 2025,” he said, adding that he has two more segments to film —one in New Hampshire and another in Manitoba. “We are excited to have a gallery, many exciting presentations on conservation and a Q&A at the event in conjunction with the film.”
Reynolds said the oil and acrylic paintings she is creating for her project are a culmination of her varied interests, from art and writing to environmental activism and the history of local Indigenous people, as well as her background as a shoreline resident whose father worked on oyster boats.
“The beauty of the shells really spoke to me,” she said. “Over the years I’ve watched the Long Island ecosystem change, from when it was too polluted to take shellfish to the resurgence of shellfishing in the 1980s and 90s.”
Her work will be displayed at Prospect Public Library in September and the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury in December, and she hopes more library exhibits will follow. Multilingual text about shellfish, their importance to Indigenous people and their role in maintaining water quality in the Sound will accompany her paintings, as well as messages about environmental stewardship.
“I’ve been targeting libraries because they’re open to the public and get a crowd that isn’t going to get to a gallery,” she said. “Shellfish did sustain people for thousands of years and became a tool for economic development of the state. I want viewers to end up with the idea that there are things we can do.”
The Arts Support Awards program began in 2009, under the direction of CTSG Research Coordinator Syma Ebbin. Annually, the program provides up to $1,000 to an artist or group of artists selected by an independent panel of arts experts to support the creation of projects with coastal environmental themes relevant to Long Island Sound that have the potential to reach diverse audiences.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the completed works of the two 2024 Connecticut Sea Grant Art awardees,” Ebbin said. “Koeck’s movie, Flyway of Life, is an exciting and ambitious project which will likely reach a lot of people and have a large scope of influence. Reynolds’ work embeds painting of Connecticut shellfish species within a cultural and historical context, combining images and information. Each in their own way, these projects will engage and educate the public, providing diverse audiences with a deeper appreciation and connection to our coasts and their inhabitants.”
Located at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton, Connecticut Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at coastal and Great Lakes states that encourage the wise stewardship of our marine resources through research, education, outreach and technology transfer.
Images courtesy of Tomas Koeck and Edith Reynolds
For more information, contact Judy Benson, CT Sea Grant communications coordinator.