Meow Wolf Installs Giant Blue Whale

The Santa Fe art collective Meow Wolf, SFCC and the larger community welcomed Ethyl the Whale, named for polyethylene plastic, to campus on Earth Day. SFCC Governing Board Chair Linda Siegle kicked off the event, noting the importance of the college’spartnership with Meow Wolf.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium commissioned artists Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova to create Ethyl. The 82-foot, life-sized sculpture of a blue whale is crafted from hand-recycled plastic trash to bring awareness to the negative impact plastics have on the environment. Ethyl is not just a work of art, she represents a call to action to use plastic alternatives that don’t destroy the planet.

When Meow Wolf purchased Ethyl, they contacted Michelle LaFlamme-Childs, Director of Art in Public Places at the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, about where to install their new acquisition. She immediately thought of SFCC. LaFlamme-Childs serves on the SFCC Foundation’s Art on Campus Action Committee, which is chaired by Sandy Zane, owner of Zane Bennett Contemporary Art and form & concept.

SFCC Foundation and the Art on Campus Action Committee manage the college’s art collections and will maintain the sculpture. Students, faculty and staff will explore Ethyl’s message through art, science, math, sustainability, literature, and more. Ethyl theWhale was recently added to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest recycled plastic sculpture.

To visit Ethyl the Whale or for more information, contact Art on Campus Director Linda Cassel: 505-428-1501, linda.cassel@sfcc.edu or even visit the webpage about Ethyl!