St. Mark's Holiday Shell Art Sales

Photos by Scott H. Shook | Sue Weiler confers with Jackie Lynch of the shell club.

Kaiden and Kiya, from Indiana, were buying shell art to take home to friends.

The shell tables were buzzing with conversation and the cash register was ringing during the St. Mark’s Holiday Shell Art Sale Friday morning at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The event, staged by the Marco Island Shell Club, will be repeated this Friday, December 4 from 9 to 2 at the same location.

Cindy Wesołowski, President of the Shell Club, was happy with the turnout for the sale. “It’s been going very well. We’ve had lots of traffic coming through and lots of buyers.”

The Shell Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. All of the shell art is created by club members, who put in countless hours of preparing for the holiday sales. 

The shell art events are held outside and masks are required due to the COVID Pandemic.

: Beautiful shell art, just in time for the holidays.

: Cheryl Gepford of Marco Island checks the shell art at St. Mark’s.

“Everybody’s been wearing their masks and social distancing,” Wesolowski said. “We have hand sanitizer and we’re sanitizing the trays after each use. We’re keeping everybody out of the sun.”

Most of the shell art is created with shells that are collected on Marco Beach by club members or are donated by islanders who are clearing out their collections.

Wesolowski has advice for those planning to attend Friday’s sale. “Come early,” she suggests. “The best selection is for those who come early. But we’re constantly restocking the tables, putting new merchandise out. So even if you came this week, there will be new merchandise you didn’t see this week at the December 4 show. Everything that sold out we’re making more.”