ECC Press Kit
For those who want to help tell our story.
Mission Statement
Emerald Curtain Collective’s mission is to promote and protect our unique, rural ecosystem through collaborative artistic activism, education, and immersion, showcasing the arts as a critical voice for sustained environmental and societal health, where the forest meets the sea and beyond.
Vision Statement
We envision a thriving Oregon Coast where creative communities and wild ecosystems are inseparable, where every person feels the power of art to inspire action, deepen belonging, and protect the land and sea we all call home. Emerald Curtain Collective works toward a future where rural communities are centers of ecological leadership, artistic expression, and lasting, community-rooted change.
About ECC
For media use – paste directly into articles and press materials
Founded in January 2025, Emerald Curtain Collective is a grassroots organization based on the Oregon Coast dedicated to protecting the region’s unique ecosystems through art, education, and community action. ECC brings together artists, activists, educators, and nature lovers each month for hands-on gatherings, workshops, and public events that celebrate the land and sea while inspiring meaningful environmental stewardship. From building pollinator habitats and crafting masks of local species to performing live puppetry at World Ocean Day and hosting free community workshops, ECC weaves creativity into conservation, right where the forest meets the sea.
Our Story
Emerald Curtain Collective was born in January 2025 from a shared feeling that the Oregon Coast deserved something different: a community space where love of the natural world and the impulse to make things could come together and actually change something.
A small group of artists, educators, and environmental advocates came together around that idea. The organization’s founders, Willow Kasner, Moss Webster, Steven Trotter, Liz Fox, Heather Graham, and Richie Scott, were drawn to the same question: what happens when creative communities decide to take care of their ecosystems & each other?
Within six weeks of its creation, ECC organized a large event on February 28, 2025, where the public was invited to attend presentations, visit with local conservation groups, attend a book signing, watch local bands perform, see a performance by Threatre for the Wild, and enjoy a handcrafted dinner. This introductory event, which served as a fundraiser for Coast Range Association raised $3000 via tickets sales and a silent auction.
In its first year, the collective hosted monthly Craft & Chat gatherings at the South Beach Community Center, bringing members together to make everything from linocut stamps and prayer flags to Thai salad rolls and insect hotels. It joined Wild Things, a joyful environmental festival in Yachats honoring the coast’s remarkable wildlife. It performed original live music and puppetry, using handmade large puppets, shadow puppets, and critter masks designed to highlight local key species, at the Hatfield Marine Science Center for World Ocean Day. These puppets and masks have also made appearances at Bloom Newport, the OCERA Awareness and 1% for Wildlife rallies at the capitol, and marched in the Yachats la de da Parade.
Representatives from ECC have attended local health and climate meetings, rallies, and protests in order to spread awareness of the issues threatening our local landscapes and residents.
In just over a year, ECC has grown into a living, breathing community of environmental stewards and makers who believe that art is not separate from activism; it is activism. The collective operates as a fiscally sponsored project of the Coast Range Association and welcomes anyone who wants to get rooted in the work.
Logos
Please download the official Emerald Curtain Collective (ECC) logo package. It includes the ECC logo, in both vertical and horizontal format, in the following colors: full-color, greyscale, and one-color (white, black, and green). These graphics are made available in the following format: PNG (raster image with transparent background), SVG (scalable vector graphics for the web), and PDF (scalable vector graphics for print).
Press Contact
emeraldcurtaincollective.org/contact or info@emeraldcurtaincollective.org