ArtStart's 'Art on the Streets for Cleaner Creeks' project paints storm drains to save native fish

With a stroke of a paintbrush, high school senior Mercy Ndegwa lays down the contrasting colors of a Sacramento Sucker, one of many native fish species that live in Santa Rosa's elaborate 100-mile creek system. She paints with precision, making sure she captures the bright green and yellow stripes of the threatened species.

“This is my second time doing this,” she said. “I love learning how to make better art and how to help the creeks.”

Ndegwa is one of several Santa Rosa students participating in the Art on the Streets for Cleaner Creeks project. Each Wednesday afternoon, they gather around a table at the nonprofit ArtStart studios to give an artistic rendering of their chosen fish on a fabric that will eventually end up on one of the city's storm drains.

Jennifer Tatum is ArtStart's creative director. She worked tirelessly to finally get permission from the city of Santa Rosa to install public art on all 18,000 storm drains throughout the city limits.

Last October the first installation went up along Railroad Square, on Wilson Street at corners of Fourth and Fifth streets. Now if you look on the curb the students' colorful fish are displayed in painted vibrant blue water as though they are floating down the stream. Lettering reads: “Drains to Santa Rosa Creek” and “Ours to Protect.”

“When we did our install the kids were sitting on the curb and we had our community members who were … walking by asking so many questions,” Tatum said. “So the kids were engaged in conversation with the community and explaining the project and how they can help. The public was very supportive.”

The apprentices get credit for 15 hours of community work, now a requirement for many to graduate from high school. But for Santa Rosa High School sophomore Yukako Hori it was much more than a requirement that got her inspired.

“This program is important to me not only because it looks good on the college applications, but also it showed me a new path to explore new types of art, such as acrylic painting and learn more about the environment in our community,” she explained.

Another apprentice, senior Reyna Vazquez, decided to paint an endangered Three-Spine Stickleback, an ancient torpedo-shaped fish with beautiful lines throughout its scaly body, and a ridgelike dorsal fin on top. She is proud of the intricate strokes and the patience it took to closely match the markings of the tiny creature.

“It's been really great,” she smiled. “The more I come, the more I learn about how to be a better artist and how it ties in to the bigger environment.”

Stephanie Lennox, an environmental consultant, is also on board to teach the students how to connect art to the community and environment. She says the warning labels that now exist on the storm drains are not enough to raise the awareness of the public.

There is still plenty of trash, chemicals, pesticides and soaps flowing into the streams from properties, businesses and streets, often by people who don't realize where it ends up. All of this polluted water ultimately rests in the treasured and fragile ecosystem of the Laguna De Santa Rosa.

“By creating a visual campaign around their storm drain system they can see how their behavior connects with the complex and intertwined habitat that exists below,” Lennox said. “I have for years been wanting Santa Rosa to have this art education so we can improve the quality of our creeks.”

The students also learn how their one action can protect a world that most don't see and never knew existed.

“I think it is important to educate the public about creeks because people, including myself didn't know how much impact plastics have on the environment and the fish in the creeks,” Hori said. “I've learned this awareness can make a big difference.”

While the city gave ArtStart the go ahead to create the public art on its property, the challenge now is the funding. So far ArtStart has raised enough money to pay for four more installations, each one costing $500. They are asking the community to chip in to adopt a colorful drain to enhance their community.