Wildlife Jewels Presents The Art of Newport Beach Wildlife: Pollinators & Native Plants
Step into the beauty of Upper Newport Bay and celebrate Newport Beach’s pollinators and native plants through art.
Join Wildlife Jewels on Saturday, July 18 at the Back Bay Science Center’s Native Garden Trail for Pollinators & Native Plants — the second event in our The Art of Newport Beach Wildlife community art series.
Together, we’ll create a collaborative artwork inspired by the butterflies, bees, blooms, and wildlife that make Newport Beach’s habitats so magical. Your art will become part of a community artwork displayed in our public showcase this fall.
Free | All ages welcome | No art experience required |Registration required
Supported by the City of Newport Beach Cultural Arts Grant Program.
Highlights from Wildlife Jewels’ The Art of Newport Beach Wildlife: Marine and Coastal Wildlife held on Saturday June 27
At the heart of the composition, Dr. Sharif painted a majestic Brown Pelican inspired by one of the pelicans rehabilitated following last year's devastating domoic acid wildlife crisis along the California coast. Surrounding the centerpiece, participants painted a vibrant collection of local wildlife, including Crystal the Western Gull, sea urchins, fish, seabirds, and other species that call Newport Beach's coastline home. Every brushstroke represented not only the beauty of these animals, but also our shared responsibility to help protect them.
Guests also created their own original wildlife artwork on Wildlife Jewels' signature Paint for Wildlife linen fabric panels. Participants chose the species that inspired them—from seabirds and fish to sea stars, sea urchins, and other marine life. These individual works will be carefully incorporated into a collaborative mixed-media installation by Wildlife Jewels and unveiled alongside the completed Jewels of Newport Beach: Marine & Coastal Wildlife canvas during the community art showcase this October.
From Crystal, a Western Gull documented after becoming entangled in fishing gear, to Peach Sapphire the Brown Pelican, sea stars, sea urchins, cormorants, and many other remarkable coastal species, every animal painted carried its own story. Participants learned about the important ecological roles these species play, the conservation challenges they increasingly face—including fishing gear entanglement, marine debris, warming ocean waters, harmful algal blooms, and recent marine wildlife starvation events observed along the California coast—and, most importantly, how every member of our community can help.
Rather than focusing only on the challenges, the program emphasized hope and action. Guests discovered simple but impactful ways they can help protect wildlife, from properly disposing of fishing line and reducing plastic pollution to giving resting marine mammals and seabirds the space they need and reporting injured wildlife. Participants also received Wildlife Jewels' Emergency Wildlife Reporting Guide, providing practical information on recognizing wildlife in distress, who to contact, and how timely reporting can help improve rescue outcomes for injured coastal wildlife.
By connecting the beauty of these remarkable animals with the realities they face in the wild, Wildlife Jewels strives to inspire a deeper appreciation for our coastal ecosystems and empower communities to protect wildlife through education, science, rescue support, community engagement, and the arts. With a deeper appreciation for the wildlife living just beyond the shoreline, participants picked up their paintbrushes to become part of the story themselves.
The Story Continues
The collaborative artwork created during this event is only the beginning of its journey.
The paintings created at Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory will return during Wildlife Jewels' The Art of Newport Beach Wildlife event in August as part of Newport Beach Art Week, where returning and new participants will have the opportunity to continue painting, refine details, and help complete these collaborative community masterpieces together.
The completed collection—including the Jewels of Newport Beach: Marine & Coastal Wildlife collaborative canvas and the Paint for Wildlife mixed-media artwork created by community participants—will then be unveiled during Wildlife Jewels' community art showcase this October, celebrating both the creativity of our community and the remarkable wildlife that inspired every brushstroke.
We hope everyone who joined us at Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory will return to help add the finishing touches and watch these collaborative works continue to evolve.
Coming Next: Pollinators & Native Plants
Our next The Art of Newport Beach Wildlife community art experience will celebrate the butterflies, native bees, hummingbirds, and native plants that help sustain Newport Beach's coastal ecosystems.
Hosted at the beautiful Back Bay Science Center Native Garden, participants will create another collaborative artwork while discovering the essential role pollinators play in supporting healthy habitats for wildlife.
Free • All ages welcome • No art experience required
Registration is required as space is limited.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this unforgettable afternoon overlooking Newport Harbor. Together, we experienced how art can tell wildlife stories, science can deepen understanding, and community can inspire hope. Every brushstroke, every conversation, every wildlife story shared, and every person empowered to help protect wildlife brings us one step closer to a future where people and nature thrive together.