Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs Receives a $10,000 Grant from the Island Foundation, Inc.

December 30, 2022

(Boston, MA) – For the fourth consecutive year, Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs (Bow Seat) has received a $10,000 grant from the Island Foundation, Inc., to support our work educating students about ocean health and climate change, and uplifting youth voices to advance multi-generational participation in environmental advocacy efforts.

This grant supports Bow Seat’s Ocean Awareness Contest (Contest), an annual, global educational initiative that invites youth to learn about and explore the connections between human activities and the health of our ocean through visual and performing arts, creative writing, poetry and spoken word, film, and multimedia. Nearly 30,000 middle and high schoolers from all 50 U.S. states and over 130 countries have participated in the program, which has been at the forefront of introducing youth to critical issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, environmental justice, and endangered species.

Bow Seat’s 2023 Ocean Awareness Contest, “Climate Heroes in Action,” invites students to research and focus their submissions on everyday trailblazers who are working to address and solve the climate crisis. By centering their submissions around this theme, participants will learn about real people making a difference: scientists, activists, artists, educators, and other unsung heroes whose work we may not know about yet—but should. Understanding that there is a large and robust global community working to solve climate issues humanizes the movement and helps young people better imagine a more livable and sustainable world.

The Island Foundation’s generous support will help Bow Seat:

• Increase participation of Massachusetts students, growing the number of Commonwealth teens who have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be creators of positive change.
• Assist Massachusetts educators in sponsoring their students’ participation in the Contest, in order to encourage interdisciplinary and intersectional environmental learning.
• Expand our art exhibition and educational programming, to continue supporting educators and students with enrichment activities that teach about climate change and creative advocacy.
• For all of the above goals, increase engagement among those who are most affected, but often underrepresented, in conservation efforts, especially voices of color.

“We have appreciated the Island Foundation’s generous support, flexibility, and care over the past three years, and we look forward to continuing to work together on our shared mission to promote the conservation of marine and coastal resources,” said Linda Cabot, founder and president of Bow Seat. “We are excited for youth to discover the positive stories of the climate movement, and to imagine a better world that inspires us all to take action.”

The 2023 Ocean Awareness Contest is open now through June 13, 2023, to middle and high school students ages 11-18 worldwide.

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About Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs: Bow Seat is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit whose mission is to educate and engage youth in ocean conservation and advocacy through the arts. Visit bowseat.org for more information about the Ocean Awareness Contest, upcoming initiatives and events, and collection of student artwork and creative media.