On your next stroll down the boardwalk, as you pass Washington Boulevard, try not to be startled by an oversized work of art at the former site of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach. Susan Gallo, a Long Beach resident and homeschool teacher, along with her Bioswale Club, have created a nearly life-size sculpture of a whale in the property’s courtyard.
The monument was built primarily of plastic bags, bottles and bottle caps that were taken off the beach during cleanups, and it was publicly revealed on June 8, World Ocean Day, after nearly two months of assembly.
Gallo and her daughters — Avellina, 13, Fiora, 11, and Toni, 6 — have been making once-weekly patrols along the beach, between Washington and Grand boulevards. They have collected trash and recyclables to either dispose of or incorporate into the whale.
The bagged debris is being stored inside the see-through sculpture as well, creating a visible reminder of the scourge of littering. At the reveal, the whale already displayed four bags of refuse. “Every week, when we clean the beach, you’ll see the belly fill up,” Gallo explained, “so that, by the end of the summer, just this little part of the beach, this is how much we clean up.”
Two months ago, Gallo worked with street artists and muralists to create artwork on the abandoned building’s exterior, as reported in “Mural celebrates ‘Many Hands, One Earth,’” in the Herald’s April 16-22 issue. Gallo’s husband, Darren Gallo, owns the property management company that oversees the building, which helped to make the art a reality. That project improved the aesthetics of the unused structure and dissuaded further vandalism.
Long Beach resident Alex Zassman was one of the first artists to help create murals after painting the area on his own, spreading his mantra of “Never give up.” Zassman explained, “I was kind of beautifying this building before they were asking for it, so they really liked that. They said it was kind of the inspiration for their kids to want to paint a mural on the wall and start this whole art project, and make this a beautiful place.”
Susan Gallo has been on a mission to develop a local bioswale — landscaping that encourages native plant life, manages stormwater runoff and filters microplastics, heavy metals and human-created debris before they enter waterways — prompted by her children’s curiosity and concern about pollution. Promoting natural ways to improve the environment has become the Gallo family’s priority.
“The bioswale is just a name,” Susan said. “Really, it’s just nature. We’re just coining a name to make people more aware that this is what we need.” The murals and the sculpted whale promote public awareness of the issue, and have served as fundraisers for the project.
“I think it’s beautiful to raise awareness,” said Zasayem Ahmed, a Valley Stream resident who was strolling the boardwalk with her family on the day of the sculpture’s reveal. “Especially including children, because they’re our new generation. And it should raise awareness with the ocean. They’re animals, they’re a living species, so we shouldn’t just be throwing our garbage and plastic around.”