Our Story
For Planet Ocean is an ARTivism movement founded in 2022 to raise awareness on the importance of the ocean to all life on earth through the medium of art and story-telling.
The challenge was founded by artists Shelley Hanmo and Emma Lopes in 2022, having already collaborated on a marine art workshop for The Sketchbook Project, NYC. Shelley and Emma started to talk about other ways they could work together through ocean story-telling despite being an ocean apart (Shelley is based in the USA and Emma in Portugal).
The concept was simple, to use art to:
Celebrate the wonders beneath the surface.
Spread awareness on the challenges facing the ocean and the fact that we land-dwellers absolutely require a healthy ocean in order to survive on our only home.
Highlight the work of incredible organisations working to protect and restore planet ocean.
Help bridge the global ocean literacy education gap.
The aim is to create a ripple effect by joining forces with an amazing team of artists to inspire our communities to learn more about the wonders and importance of the ocean and the incredible work of our partners each year we collaborate with a different organisation. Over the past 3 years we have collaborated with some incredible organisations-
2024- Australian Marine Conservation Society
2023- Project Seagrass
2022- Clean Miami Beach
“I hope that through my art and my love of the sea, I can make my voice heard and make a difference.”
— Janina Rossiter, hosting artist 2022, 2023, 2024