The Whale (2011) was made entirely from driftwood, bottles, and other plastic pulled from the Potomac River by my family as part of their own personal river cleanup. Since a big part of me is still that young girl growing up at the beach in Florida, this twenty-five foot long mobile raises for me important questions about the state of our rivers and oceans and what we want to inhabit them: the real creatures of the sea or plastic facsimiles. The Whale initially was a temporary installation hung at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia, as part of a fundraiser for Matthew Maury Elementary School, and after the event the church welcomed it for an extended showing that was very much appreciated!