Bri Sander Guides a Special Project with North Fork Girl Scouts

This month’s Dan’s Papers North Fork cover comes to us from a unique collaboration with artist Bri Sander and local Girl Scouts Hannah Boyd and Remy Tryniszewski who created a beautiful and thoughtful piece of art to achieve the highest honor available from the youth program. And that work remains on view in the community for all to enjoy.

Based in New York City and Sound Beach, Sander is a talented mixed media artist who dedicates herself to working with a North Fork nonprofit, cleaning up area beaches and teaching the community about preserving nature through creative practice. Here, Sander talks about the Girl Scouts project, her own art using discarded objects, and the East End-based contemporaries with whom she shares an artistic and environmental vision.

A Conversation with Bri Sander

Tell me about this cover art and how it came about? I know it was created with children through an upcycling program you help run. Can you give us the details about the program and this particular project?

This cover art is a piece created in 2024 by local Girl Scout Troop #865 members Hannah Boyd and Remy Tryniszewski with guidance from Troop Leader Lisa Boyd for their Silver Award Legacy Project. The piece is on permanent view at the Mattituck-Laurel Library. I connected with the Scouts through my work with UpSculpt, a North Fork-based nonprofit organization where I serve as Director of Education and Outreach.

At UpSculpt (upsculpt.com), we create sculpture from plastic marine debris and empower action against the crisis of ocean plastic through art, science and educational workshops. My work with UpSculpt is heavily tied to my creative practice through guidance and mentorship from founder Cindy Pease Roe, a talented North Fork artist and pioneer using marine debris as a creative medium.

The Scouts aimed to create a marine debris art project for their Silver Award and contacted local organizations including UpSculpt and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society for advice. I enjoyed guiding the Scouts through the process of collecting marine plastics, preparing the material, offering creative advice, and securing a venue to present their art to the public. Hannah and Remy spent time visiting the UpSculpt studio to learn techniques and get inspired to create.

Can you talk a bit more about the Troop’s experience and about the place where you collected the debris?

I spoke with Troop Leader Lisa Boyd, who had this to share: “Hannah and Remy were happy to focus on a beach close to their homes. They visited one local shoreline and found more than enough marine debris for the project. The location ended up being very meaningful — it’s a place the girls visit to hang out and ride bikes often. It was impactful to witness debris accumulating so regularly as they visited to collect materials. Bri’s guidance helped Hannah and Remy get excited to engage with their community and get creative with sustainable materials!”

Tell me about working with Cindy Pease Roe? She’s also done a cover for us.

As Director of Education and Outreach for UpSculpt, I work closely alongside Cindy Pease Roe, who is the founding artist. Cindy is a wonderful creative mentor and her work has a significant impact on my practice. I enjoy connecting with local artists who highlight discarded materials, often discussing our latest finds, exchanging debris, and exploring new ways to create from waste!

Can you talk a bit about your own work as an artist? You have such a diverse body of work, but there are clearly threads tying it together. Tell us about that.

I find creative inspiration by investigating the natural world through an intersecting lens of art and science. As a former ecologist with a lifelong passion for the environment, I explore humanity’s complicated relationship with nature. Highlighting simple patterns and whimsical subjects, I draw references from New York’s natural environment, my background in biological sciences, and past experience conducting research in the field of microplastic pollution. From an early age, I’ve always had an obsession with discarded objects and cleaning up the environment.

What has this program done for you as it relates to your own work? Do you find it inspires you to do more, or is it difficult to expend all the energy working with others? Meaning: Do you run out of gas when trying to focus back on your own stuff or does it charge your battery?

Collaboration motivates me to keep creating. This project was a prime example of how rewarding it is to connect with your community and create public art projects. It was inspiring to witness Hannah and Remy’s goal to create marine debris artwork for their Silver Award. This unconventional idea was met with great reception from the community during a public unveiling at Mattituck-Laurel Library in November 2024, and it was an honor to help the Scouts bring this project to life!

Is everything you use found, or do you also buy objects for your compositions?

I use discarded materials in my work, sometimes paired with traditional mediums like acrylic, ink, watercolor and printmaking techniques. My choice to use found objects is deliberate, I want to highlight sustainable practices, send an environmental message, and help make a difference with my art. By transforming discarded waste into whimsical mixed media works, sculptures, and wearable objects, a lighthearted commentary arises on nature’s beauty in the face of continuous environmental destruction.

There are a number of artists working with materials like this, especially plastic found on the beach. As we discussed, there is of course Cindy Pease Roe, but also Scott Bluedorn and Rossa Cole, to name two others. Besides Cindy Pease Roe, have you worked or shown with any of these artists, or people doing this kind of work?

I am honored to work among such talented artists on the East End and hope to collaborate with many more. I’ve shown work with the artists you’ve mentioned in recent exhibitions in Greenport, at the Floyd Memorial Library curated by Sally Grant, and the North Fork Art Collective curated by artist Kara Hoblin. Kara does a fantastic job bringing artists who work with found materials together.

Can you talk about how the region here plays a role in what you create?

I am constantly drawn to the outdoors and inspired by the nature on Long Island — most often the marine environment. Living along the bluffs of the north shore, I witness the amount of debris washing up on our shorelines every day. Beyond our shorelines, especially when I spend time in New York City, I’m constantly searching for discarded treasures littering the environment. I end most days with pockets full of small objects found on sidewalks, on the beach, and accumulating under the desk. My friends, family, and community play a role by collecting and donating objects when the opportunity calls!

Do you have any new projects, accomplishments or shows underway or coming up?

I’m proud to unveil my recent public mural, “SUNRISE,” made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature as part of the New York State Cultivating Havens for the Arts through Regional Murals (CHARM) initiative. The work includes over 2,200 discarded bottle caps and plastic bread tags donated by community members. “SUNRISE” is on view through November 2026 near the UpSculpt studio at Port of Egypt Marine in Southold, located at 62300 NY-25.

In 2025, my creative work was supported by the Long Island Grants for the Arts Fellowship, through funds provided by the office of the governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Huntington Arts Council.

Where can people find your work online or in-person?

My work is on view at the North Fork Art Collective in Greenport and Gallery North in Setauket. View more artwork online via my website, brisandr.com and social media @bri.sandr.