A hometown artist is enlisting a dancing octopus and a sunlit mermaid in the fight to save the oceans.
Andie Dinkin, who grew up walking distance from the beach here, has teamed with the nonprofit Artists Support to release a collection of limited-edition prints and apparel benefiting Oceana, the largest international organization devoted solely to ocean conservation. The collection, called "Friends of the Ocean," launched June 8 on World Oceans Day and will be available through Sept. 7, Labor Day, at oceana.org/friendsoftheocean.
The campaign, timed to Ocean Action Month, arrives as marine ecosystems face mounting pressure from climate change, overfishing, pollution and coastal destruction. Each year, fishing gear kills or injures millions of marine animals as bycatch, while plastic pollution, ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures threaten entire ecosystems.
For Dinkin, the cause is personal. The artist, who was born in Los Angeles in 1991 and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2014, said her bond with the water took root in childhood.
"I grew up in Santa Monica, walking distance from the ocean. From a young age, I developed a love affair with the water and the species that inhabit and surround it," Dinkin said. "The ocean's ecosystems and species are so resilient. We just have to give them a sliver of a chance, we have to fight for the ocean."
That connection has been tested. Dinkin said she avoided the coastline after the January 2025 wildfires, unsure of what she would find, and grew concerned about persistently poor air quality. A recent visit changed her outlook.
"We saw dolphins, which reminded me that I need to stop avoiding the beach and start doing what I can to protect it," she said.
For the collection, Dinkin created three limited-edition prints and designed two silkscreen T-shirts and a large canvas beach bag. The imagery is mythical and whimsical — one print shows an octopus dancing in high-heeled boots, another a mermaid enjoying a drink in the sun. Each print is signed, numbered and produced in an edition of 100, priced at $350 and printed by Press Friends of Los Angeles.
The apparel, made by Grand Palace in Nashville, Tennessee, is more affordable. A short-sleeve T-shirt depicting a mermaid on the shore under moonlight sells for $60, and a long-sleeve shirt with a black-and-white underwater scene sells for $80. Both are 100% cotton in editions of 150. A $100 canvas tote, an edition of 100, features a masked mermaid reading a book inside a shell.
Proceeds will support Oceana's advocacy work, including protecting whales and turtles threatened as bycatch in the Pacific Ocean and defending California's coastline from oil and plastic pollution.
Ashley Blacow-Draeger, a field campaign manager for Oceana, said Southern California waters hold extraordinary biodiversity but face serious risks.
"Ocean animals are vulnerable to many threats including getting inadvertently captured in fishing gear, ingestion of single-use plastic, and increased oil spill risk from the threat of a federal proposal to expand offshore drilling," she said. "While we've made great progress, there remains so much to do to turn the tide."
The collaboration is the second between Dinkin and Artists Support to benefit Oceana. Last year's campaign, "Untangled," offered nine paintings and a limited-edition print. The pair first joined forces in 2024, raising more than $65,000 for emergency services responding to the California wildfires.
Jon Frank, Oceana's director for corporate and celebrity partnerships, tied the effort to the group's broader mission.
"This collection launches during Ocean Action Month, our rallying cry for communities everywhere to come together and protect and restore healthy, abundant oceans," Frank said. "For 25 years, Oceana and our allies have championed impact through action, and Friends of the Ocean shows how each of us can help safeguard the seas."
Clara Zevi, founder and director of Artists Support, said the goal is both financial and cultural. Since 2020, her organization has worked with more than 70 artists to raise over $1 million for causes ranging from emergency care in conflict zones to global nonprofits.
"We're trying to raise as much as possible to directly benefit Oceana's campaigns, but we're also trying to get the message out that if we want to live in a world with whales, turtles, seals, corals, and generally healthy oceans, we need to advocate," Zevi said. "Wearing a mermaid T-shirt, or gifting someone an octopus print is a fun, authentic way to show that you care about ocean and marine wildlife conservation."
Dinkin said the work has reshaped how she sees her art. "The more work I do for the environment, the more inclined I feel to do more," she said.