PORT ANGELES — Rain doesn’t bother fish, but it did slow Feiro Marine Life Center volunteers from affixing their fishy artwork to a fence on the Port Angeles waterfront Monday afternoon.
Fence-fishing volunteers were chased back inside the Feiro building when a cold rain squall doused them.
But they had a few of the fish up, and the rest are expected to be put in place by the end of the week.
About 200 ceramic herring were painted by fourth-grade students in Port Angeles and Sequim, and the addition of the newest pieces brought the fish count on the fence to 1,437, said Betsy Wharton, president of the Feiro board of directors.
The public art project is part of the Sixth annual Fish on the Fence Gala, where attendees will be offered the chance to sponsor the school of herring with their own salmon donor-fish.
Aaron Edmiston, 10, a fourth-grade student at Jefferson Elementary, joined a group of Feiro volunteers tying the fish into a “herring ball” on a fence overlooking the mouth of Peabody Creek, adjacent to City Pier on Railroad Avenue.
“This one’s mine,” Aaron said, picking out the 12th Man Seattle Seahawks-theme herring he painted.
Tickets for the gala dinner with live music and auction, starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St., are available for $50 per person at the Feiro Center.
The center is located on the Port Angeles City Pier at 315 N. Lincoln St. Those interested can also phone 360-417-6254 for tickets.
Fish on the Fence began as a marriage of art and marine science for high school students at Lincoln High School.
Since then, the project has expanded to other schools, with students creating their own takes on what lives beneath the water’s surface.
The fish artworks were painted earlier this month by fourth-graders at Dry Creek, Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools in Port Angeles; Helen Haller Elementary School in Sequim; and Crescent School in Joyce.
Blue and green fish dominated the new school of herring, coinciding with the Super Bowl championship fortunes of the Seahawks.
“There are a lot of them,” said Rachele Brown, education and program coordinator for Feiro.
The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, around the time the paintings were created.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
