L I V (I N) G Estuary: Artificial Oyster Pot Community Event & Exhibition Closing
Saturday, June 27, 2026
3:30 PM 5:00 PM
Tully-Levine Gallery in the ArtsXchange (map)
Join Ashley Rivers | The Nature of Fire for the closing of her first Solo Exhibition:
“L I V (I N) G Estuary” … a space between.
An art exhibition that – influenced directly by the oyster shell and its deep, layered, and detailed ridges – explores my personal experience with artistic growth, environmental factors, and materials/media experimentation over the years I have been practicing as a professional artist.
The Closing Reception & Artificial Oyster Pot Community Creation Event will be happening on June 27th from 3:30 PM–5:00 PM, an afternoon of art, small bites, and good vibes.
Facilitated by Non-Profit: Oyster River Ecology, this is a fun, unique, family friendly, and environmentally conscious art event where all can come and make artificial oyster pots that will be directly placed into our estuary! A community engagement event where participants/volunteers are actively involved in environmental restoration efforts! Come make one oyster pot or stay for the whole event and make 20+!
About the Exhibition
An estuary is a point of convergence- it is the space between, where freshwater rivers and salty ocean waters merge. This point, where the union of different elements and organisms come together to meet at a single point- where adaption and growth occurs, and the life of our special little oysters grows- indicates and symbolizes the very setting this exhibition is meant to be portrayed in.
Through repetition and active material experimentation, these artworks investigate the intrinsic relationship between the natural systems and developments of an oyster and its shell, and the symbolism of them compared to our human identity- specifically to my lived artistic experiences. The work explores my personal experience with artistic growth, environmental factors, and materials/media experimentation over the years I have been practicing as a professional artist.
Working with multiple mediums- including clays, raw dyes and pigments, natural fibers, metals, wood, and hand-made papers and twines- the sculptures aim to share, through textural and vulnerable forms, that humans and nature share systematic parallels.
This collection is directly influenced by the oyster shell and its deep, layered, and detailed ridges. Created through a combination of growth, environmental factors, and the deposition of materials, the ridges of the oyster shell act as a metaphor following my artistic identity and experiences lived.
The art is intended to achieve an inspiring and transformational impact on those who experience it by sharing the importance of not only restorative efforts of personal growth, but the importance of restorative efforts on/for the environment.
This exhibition is the space between.
Special thanks to the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance for awarding me the 2025 Individual Artist Grant to assist in making this projects happen!