Flotsam and Jetsam art competition: Frank’s ‘barrel’ wins people’s choice award

The Flotsam and Jetsam art competition has wrapped up for another year with the announcement of a piece titled The Barrel winning the people’s choice award. Creator Frank Miragliotta said he was shocked to win the award though he’d been entering the competition for years. “I didn’t expect to win, it’s just exciting the people chose it as their favourite,” he said. “This just proves you don’t need to be an artist, just a little imagination.” He said the idea for the piece came to him when he saw a photo of all the rubbish on the back of the boat heading back into Geraldton. “There was this drum sitting back there and the ideas just started flowing,” he said. “It took probably four to five weekends with a lot of tedious rope cutting.” Organiser Pia Boschetti said Miragliotta and his wife had been entering the exhibition for years. “This year we had more than 80 entries, which we were thrilled about, especially because of COVID-19,” she said. Flotsam and Jetsam art was created using rubbish and other debris brought back by volunteers from a trip to the Abrolhos Islands.