Cumberland
Island National Seashore
Saint Mary's, Georgia
This visitor center is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean at Saint Mary's, Georgia . You need to take a ferry there to get to this barrier island just off the coast called Cumberland Island National Seashore. Once home to the Carnegies, the island is now inhabited by a wide variety of flora & fauna including armadillo, deer, wild horses and turkey. It is truly a beautiful place. The project required me to go to the site and take lots of reference photos and gather materials to be used in the exhibits. Once again, thanks to Color-Ad, Inc. for everything.
My part of the project consisted of three exhibits:
1) A cross-section of a sand dune showing the stabilizing effect of the rhizome root structure of the sea oats. Along with a simulated Oyster catcher's nest I used actual sea oats I gathered at the dunes to show how the roots surround and clump the sand, basically building and maintaining the protective dunes. The form was first carved from polystyrene foam and the surface is actual sand gathered onsite attached using polygem and thinned glues.
Approximate size is 36"H x 76"L x 12" D.
2) A cross-section of the beach showing a Loggerhead turtle nest at various stages of hatching, with two hatchlings breaking the surface of the sand. The structure consists of carved polystyrene foam coated with sand, shells and debris collected onsite. The eggs are modified ping pong balls and the turtles are modified urethane casts painted with vinyl acrylics.
Approximate size is 36"H x 56"L x 18"D.
3) A fiddler crab burrow entrance as would be seen in the saltwater marshes on the west-side of the island. I painted the mural behind the diorama to give it a "crab's eye view" perspective. The surface consists of carved urethane foam with polygem embedded with shells and debris gathered onsite. Along with the simulated cord grass and actual periwinkles, the fiddler crab is a fully articulated painted cast made from an actual crab gathered onsite.
Approximate size of diorama is 26"H x 26"L x 9"D.
Approximate size of fiddler crab is .75"T x 2"W x 2"D.