If you stop by Sekul’s Art Gallery on Government Street in Ocean Springs, you’ll see art that represents an artistic adventure. The pieces are part of a collection titled Dauphin Island Experience.

What happens when a group of artists spend a week on Alabama’s Dauphin Island? Art, inspired by nature comes to life.

“We rented a house right on the beach. It was gorgeous. We created all day, from the moment we finished breakfast until it was time to go to sleep,” said Artist Kim Bailey.

Bailey and other South Mississippi artists have created a body of work called Dauphin Island Experience. The result is on display at Sekul’s Art Gallery in Ocean Springs.

Paintings, pottery, jewelry and more came out of this unique opportunity to be inspired by natural beauty.

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Seafod Gumbo: fox10tv.com

Dauphin Island ready to roll: fox10tv.com

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — As long as the sun is shining, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab is generating much of its own electricity after investing $280,000 in a new array of rooftop panels that capture solar energy.

The switch to solar power, at least on sunny days, during the fall has made Alabama’s marine science research outpost the state’s top producer of solar power outside of the military.

“It’s the right thing to do because of our exposure to the sun,” said John Dindo, a senior marine scientist at the lab, noting the Alabama’s coast sits at the same sun-blasted latitude as Cairo, Egypt. “We like to be an environmental leader in our community.”

Sea Lab officials say that sunlight on clear days is now generating up to 100 kilowatts of electricity an hour. The Press-Register reports that’s enough to power about 100 medium-sized window unit air-conditioners. The lab uses that juice to power its three largest classroom buildings as well as all computers and lights in one of its biggest research buildings.

The solar system uses silicone panels to collect the sun’s energy, which get sent to groups of inverters that turn that energy into alternating current for running lights and appliances.

The inverters have digital displays that track how much power gets generated every day. They also calculate how many pounds of carbon dioxide, a gas blamed by scientists for contributing to global warming, would have been emitted from power plants generating the same electricity.

The $280,000 cost of the solar system was funded by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs with a grant from the federal Department of Energy. Most of the array was installed last October.

Sea Lab officials chose not to install a battery system that would store excess solar energy for use at night or on cloudy days. During those times, the lab still relies on the traditional power grid.

Dindo said he believes the solar-power system will likely have paid for itself within a decade.

“It will take time to figure out and understand production when it’s cloudy, or hot and humid,” Dindo said. “But soon, all of our power generation information will be available on our website. People will be able to look on the web and see what’s being generated in real time.”

For more on this story click HERE.

The Mobile Press-Register reports that Sand Island was open to the public after a federal dredging project that pumped 1.4 million cubic yards of clean sand from the seafloor to create the new island.

Not a single tar ball marred the island during a Thursday inspection. The 15-acre mass, which sits about 3 miles south of the mouth of Mobile Bay, was covered in seashells and sea birds.

At the base of the island there’s a lighthouse that’s 141 years old. The lighthouse was an island unto itself for decades, as the land it was built upon slowly withered. But now it’s surrounded by sand once again.

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Information from: Press-Register

“We’ve got a whole new life for Sand Island and it seemed to come out of nowhere,” said Capt. Hal Pierce, who as a founder of the Alabama Lighthouse Association presented the restoration project to the Coastal Recovery Commission after the BP oil spill last year. “The Corps came in and made it happen.”

Susan Rees, who has been working on coastal projects for the Corps for 31 years, credited Congress for a $6 million supplemental appropriation to mitigate impacts from the oil. The money was used to pay for dredging which relocated the sand from a “beneficial use area” to the shallows surrounding the lighthouse.

“There was a discussion of massive amounts of oil on the bottom of the Gulf and if that were true, this would help keep it from moving into sensitive areas and estuaries,” Rees said. She explained that Mobile Bay’s natural flow rate would prevent any oil from moving up the deep pass, but nothing was in place to prevent it from creeping up the western flank, where there are no strong outward currents.

“We designed a general template and went out for bid to determine how many cubic yards of material we could place,” Rees said.

From early October until work was completed Nov. 20, workers with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company created a teardrop shaped island estimated to be 2,500-2,700 feet long and 300 feet wide, tapering to 50 feet at its western end. The elevation rises to five feet.

“Mobile Bay really has an extremely rich maritime legacy and there are really no really landmarks left from that era except the two lighthouses (there is also Middle Bay Light, circa 1885),” Hall said. “I can tell you being a boat captain, whether there is a beacon atop a lighthouse or not, when you come in at night it’s a beautiful sight. You know you’re home.”

Rees said the funding for the island was exhausted with the dredging, and there really are no expectations as to how long the sand will stay put. There are no current plans to reinforce the sand with native vegetation or outlying wave breaks.

“Likely it will not stay there forever,” Rees said. “It depends on how many storms we have, but just as before, the sand will ultimately feed Dauphin Island.”

Rees said the Corps, who is working on similar restoration projects off the Mississippi coast, also hoped the project would spur interest in funding a permanent restoration effort.

“You can only do as much as the money will allow.”

Read about the history of Sand Island Lighthouse here.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, AL – Spring officially kicks off on Dauphin Island when the inaugural SeaGrass Music Festival™ takes place Friday & Saturday, March 23rd-24th at Historic Fort Gaines, starring Ricky Skaggs, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Sara Watkins, Three on a String, David Davis & The Warrior River Boys, Delta Reign, Harold & Ovaline Andrews and The Gum Creek Killers.

Whether you’re a picker yourself or just a music fan in general, SeaGrass Music Festival™ has something for everyone to enjoy!

Tickets for SeaGrass Music Festival™ are general admission and on sale NOW at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone 800.745.3000, and at various Dauphin Island locations. Weekend passes are only $25.00! Capacity is limited, so get your tickets early! Gates open at 5:00pm on Friday and 2:00pm on Saturday. For more information and full schedule of performances, visit www.DauphinIslandEvents.com.
For Dauphin Island accommodations visit: http://dauphinislandcoc.com/accommodations
SeaGrass Music Festival™ is presented by the South Mobile County Tourism Authority through a grant from BP.
For event & ticket information: Jenifer Fine – 251.224.1021 or info@dauphinislandtourism.com

(DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala.) – A group of property owners has volunteered to become groundskeepers to save Dauphin Island’s golf course.

“We’re going to be taught how to drive tractors and green lawnmowers,” Jim Hall, a member of the Dauphin Island Property Owner’s Association, said.

A combination of the down economy, damage from hurricanes, and the oil spill put the cash-strapped golf course on its last legs. Its board members announced it would close on Sunday, but the Property Owner’s Association held an emergency meeting Thursday morning which drew dozens.

“It was a spontaneous effort to keep this golf course alive and well,” Hall said.

By cutting down on maintenance costs, the group hopes to keep the golf course open for the next 90 to 120 days. After that, they say they’ll be in need of some other financial backing.

Historic Cadillac Square
Dauphin Island, Alabama
Sat., May 12th & Sun., May 13th, 2012
9 a.m.  —  4 p.m.
Sponsored by Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce

Click HERE to download the Entry Form for Artists and Food Vendors.