Stephán Wanger is saving the world, one plastic Mardi Gras bead at a time.
The long center table in Stephan’s Galeria Alegria is lined with dozens of clear cups, each filled with beads in a particular hue. Aquas here, cranberries there, tangerine and shell pink and translucent pearls – a veritable rainbow of bright little orbs, enough to fill a goodly portion of a curbside dumpster, which is exactly the point.
“Seven thousand tons of plastic Mardi Gras beads go into landfills every year,” says Stephán. “If you combine what we’ve thrown away in the past 20 years with what we will throw away in the next 10, you have the exact tonnage of the BP oil spill.
“You know the difference? Oil is organic and dilutes in water. Plastic stays forever.”
Stephán’s solution to the problem is an artistic one: He has used more than 1 million beads so far in the oversized mosaics he creates in his Magazine Street studio. He also teaches bead mosaics to elementary school students and at in-gallery workshops.
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