Selva Ozelli’s Ocean Art Exhibitions for World Oceans Day 2026

Art & Culture · Artist Feature

By Selva Ozelli | Artist Feature

This is an artist feature. The exhibitions described below are the author’s own work, and descriptions of the works, their partners and their endorsements are provided by the artist.

UN World Oceans Day falls on 8 June, and its 2026 theme is “Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean.” The theme asks people to stop treating the ocean as a distant resource and to see it as the system that keeps the planet habitable, with humanity acting as its guardian rather than simply drawing on it. The United Nations observance is organised by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), with Oceanic Global as a partner.

This year’s observance is also the first since the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, better known as the High Seas Treaty, became binding law. The treaty entered into force on 17 January 2026, 120 days after it passed the threshold of 60 ratifications.

What the High Seas Treaty covers

The treaty is the third implementing agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It sets common rules for conserving and using marine life on the high seas and the deep seabed beyond national borders, which together make up nearly two-thirds of the ocean. The agreement text rests on four main elements.

Four exhibitions for Reimagine

Selva Ozelli, an oil painter and an ambassador to Oceanic Global, has prepared four exhibitions around the World Oceans Day theme. Three belong to her Flag CCL series, in which CCL is the Roman numeral for 250, marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. Ozelli says the series is endorsed by Freedom 250, a national semiquincentennial campaign.

Ocean Lovers: Angel Fish Flag CCL

National Lighthouse Museum, 200 The Promenade at Lighthouse Point, Staten Island, NY 10301

A flag measuring 20 by 13 feet, painted in oil on 260 panels of 12 by 12 inches, with angelfish as its subject. The work nods to the museum’s partnership with the Billion Oyster Project, the Governors Island initiative restoring oyster reefs in New York Harbor, and links the city’s maritime history with reef conservation.

Ocean Lovers: To the Core Flag CCL

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 US-9W, Palisades, NY 10964

A five-foot-square oil painting on 35 wood panels, made in honour of the observatory’s work in Earth and marine science. It shows red and green seagrass with migratory fish from the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Hudson River estuary. Ozelli says the piece draws on sediment core research at Lamont, including Dr Dorothy Peteet’s work on wetlands and carbon storage, and the deep-sea cores that Drs William Ryan and Walter Pitman used to propose a prehistoric flooding of the Black Sea.

Paradise Flag CCL

Havre de Grace Maritime Museum and Environmental Center, 100 Lafayette Street, Havre de Grace, MD 21078

A digital collaboration between Ozelli and the Australian nature photographer Ian Hutton, combining his marine and wildlife photography with her painting in a flag design.

Paradise

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, 61 US-9W, Palisades, NY 10964

A second collaboration with Ian Hutton, pairing his photographs with Ozelli’s oil paintings of Lord Howe Island in Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage site with the world’s southernmost coral reef.

Also on the calendar

Separately from the exhibitions, Peace Boat US holds its first Ocean Gala and Blue Innovation Reception on Wednesday 10 June, from 5pm to 9.30pm EDT, aboard the Peace Boat at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in New York. The organisers describe an evening of sustainable fashion, ocean conservation awards and networking as part of the World Oceans Day celebrations.

Artwork courtesy of Selva Ozelli. SEVENSEAS Media thanks Oceanic Global, the National Lighthouse Museum, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum and Environmental Center, and Peace Boat US.

SEVENSEAS Media · Conservation Journalism for the Ocean