ENCOUNTERS

In Spring of 2025, Olive Roberts conceived the idea to create large linocut portraits of the 7 different animals the Georgia Aquarium offers encounters with: California Sea Lion, Sea Otter, Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Harbor Seal, Beluga Whale, African Penguin, and Sharks/Rays. She created a proposal, and in June of 2025 she received the Spark Award, and began to visit the aquarium as frequently as possible, taking pictures and gathering visual inspiration for the work. Roberts donated a set of the prints to Georgia Aquarium to display in their permanent collection.

“ENCOUNTERS” is the culmination of a year’s worth of planning, drawing, observing, and appreciating ocean life, through research and up-close interactions. Roberts is proud to debut the final prints, and share her experiences, personal reflections, and takeaways from this project through this companion book.