EDITORIAL: Art for the Gulf's sake

By pointing paintbrushes instead of her fingers, 11-year-old Olivia Bouler of Islip has chosen to be proactive about the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Her watercolors of birds and new line of Olivia's Birds gear have raised a remarkable $130,000 for the National Audubon Society's efforts to restore wildlife threatened by the disaster. Bouler is showing that any average Jane or Joe can make a difference.

While it's uplifting to see someone so young having an impact, other Long Islanders are also playing a valuable part in saving, in the words of President Barack Obama, "the unique beauty and bounty" of the wetlands. There's illustrator Kelly Light of East Rockaway, who is selling sketch cards through her blog, Ripple. The site is now hosting other local and national artists who want to sell their works and direct the money raised toward environmental research.

Bouler, Light and the many other artists and philanthropists who have chosen to take up the cause are already making their mark. The rest of us, oil consumers all, should consider their artistic strides a wake-up call. If we all began participating in ways that benefit the Gulf - whether big or small - we can put our own personal stamp on the recovery effort, enhancing the lives of the affected animals and the welfare of those living in the region. To the vast scale of the cleanup itself, the efforts of these young artists bring a personal note of caring to those who are suffering. hN