Save Our wild Salmon (SOS) is thrilled to partner with Northwest artist Sue Coccia of EarthArt International to celebrate the wild salmon and orcas that define the region, and to invite you to help protect them.
For 30 years, Sue Coccia has created intricate, hand-drawn wildlife art celebrating animals and the ecosystems that sustain them.
Sue is a long-time supporter of SOS, and is offering a remarkable gift to our community: an original salmon sculpture and two framed prints of a sockeye salmon and Granny Orca. These exquisite pieces will go home with three donors to SOS during the month of November who give $5,000 or more (to be eligible for the sculpture) or $3,500 or more (to be eligible for the framed prints).
As a special bonus, your gift now will help SOS meet our biggest matching gift opportunity ever – generous donors have pledged to match all gifts in 2026 dollar for dollar up to a total of $100,000!
Before she creates every piece, Sue researches the animal: its habitat, what threatens its survival, the delicate ecosystem keeping it alive. Then, working from the center outward, she hand-draws the interconnectedness – hidden animals, weather patterns, environmental symbols woven throughout each intricate design. Sue crafts each piece with deliberate, reverent slowness for the wildlife that deserves our full attention.
You can help protect salmon, orcas, and the habitat they depend on by making a donation to SOS today. And three lucky donors who give generously have the chance to take home one of Sue’s beautiful works of art.
How it works:
Every donor who gives to Save Our wild Salmon at the following levels between November 1-30 will be entered into a drawing to receive one of three pieces:
- Give $5,000 or more to be entered to win a Chinook salmon sculpture (1 available)
- Give $3,500 or more to be entered to win a Granny Orca or Sockeye signed and framed print (1 of each print available)
Three names will be drawn after the campaign closes on November 30, with winners contacted by December 10. Your generous gift will help SOS inspire and mobilize people around the region to protect salmon, orcas, rivers, and our communities in the new year.
Ways to give:
You can give to SOS online [credit card, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay]
You can also mail a check postmarked by 11/30 to:
Save Our wild Salmon Coalition
811 1st Ave, Suite 305
Seattle, WA 98104
More about the art:
Chinook Salmon sculpture: 20"L x 6"W x 12"H with stand
Drawing Entry @$5,000 donation
Hand carved from bass wood in Bali by artisan Wayan Losen
Art by Sue Coccia
Chinook are easily the largest of any salmon, with adults often exceeding 40 pounds, Freshwater streams and estuaries provide important habitat for young salmon. Eggs are laid in deeper water, and need cool water and good water flow to survive. Estuaries and their associated wetlands provide nursery areas for the Chinook before swimming to the open ocean. Wetlands not only help buffer the estuary from silt and pollutants, but also provide important feeding and hiding areas. The draining and filling of wetlands and the pollution of the estuary from industrial discharges and run-off, negatively impact them. The Southern Resident orcas prefer chinook salmon over any other food source and scientists have determined there is a tight correlation between the two populations. When the salmon are abundant, orcas thrive. When the salmon are scarce, the Southern Resident orca population suffers.
Sockeye: signed print, matted and framed to 11" x 14"
Drawing Entry @$3,500 donation
Art by Sue Coccia
Like all other Pacific salmon, Sockeye are born in fresh water. However, they require a lake nearby to rear in. Once hatched, juvenile sockeye will stay in their natal habitat for up to three years, then they swim out to sea, where they feed mainly on zooplankton. Breeding males have a distinctive look, developing a humped back and hooked jaws filled with visible teeth. The salmon represents determination and persistence as she is one of Earth’s greatest survivors. Look in this design to see the Great Blue Heron and the Eagle. Also, “She Who Watches,” a quiet, powerful petroglyph of the mighty Columbia River Gorge, and the Ladybug, who will bring you good luck and happiness!
Granny Orca: signed print, matted and framed to 11" x 14"
Drawing Entry @$3,500 donation
Art by Sue Coccia
The Orca is the largest member of the dolphin family, and this particular Orca “Granny” (J2), was the oldest on record. As the leader of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population, Granny lived in the northeast Pacific Ocean and coastal bays of Washington State and British Columbia. Granny was estimated to have been born in 1911, and was last seen on October 12, 2016. Today, the Southern Residents are facing extinction due to a decline in their primary food source, Chinook salmon. Dam and fish farm removal must be taken seriously as soon as possible if orcas are to have any chance of recovering. The orca culture is a matriarchal one, and coincidentally Granny had a half-moon notch in her dorsal fin – the crescent moon shape symbolizes the Goddess. See within this design the playful Seal, lucky Ladybug, and hiding Frog. Also known as the Sea Wolf, Granny swims in pursuit of the Chinook Salmon.
You can see these pieces and more of Sue Coccia’s work at Gallery North (401 Main Street, Edmonds, WA) during her solo show throughout November.
