Congratulations to the volunteers who pulled off another successful project for Keep Suffolk Beautiful on Saturday, this time with help from the Suffolk Art Gallery, Suffolk Art League and more than 11,000 pieces of balloons and balloon debris.

They met at the gallery on Saturday morning to sort the balloons under overcast skies. Once they were organized by color, the balloons were put to use inside two sculptures within the gallery.

The student welders who put together the metal butterfly and turtle for Saturday’s project did an outstanding job. They were both solid, sizable works of art that should make welding instructor Thomas Shirk’s students proud of themselves.

Volunteers cut recycled clam netting to weave around the sculptures as a top layer. This allowed them to pack the sculptures full of with balloon material. Suffolk high school students and faculty enjoyed spending their Saturday afternoons making these kaleidoscopes of color.

The balloons came from a study conducted by Longwood University’s Clean Virginia Waterways organization. Researchers had conducted 46 balloon-related litter surveys from June 2013 to November 2017, covering about 111 miles of remote Virginia beaches in the process and collecting 11,441 balloons and balloon-related debris.

That includes balloon ribbons that Lakeland High School junior Emily Owens, 16, used to tether the netting to the metal frames.

“I think it’s a really good project,” Owens said at the gallery on Saturday. “It will really open people’s eyes as to how much garbage is really getting put into the ocean.”

I agree with Owens, and the finished products speak for themselves. The faded colors of balloons worn by time and saltwater are eye-catching, but they’re also organized in the frames so that the disparate elements shine together.

This project was just the latest to demonstrate the need for these kinds of efforts in Suffolk. The students earned community service hours while expressing themselves creatively. Both the gallery and art league got exposure in the process, and Keep Suffolk Beautiful got two effective props for future presentations on the hazards of rampant balloon use.

It’s a win-win experience that should be replicated and encouraged. I hope that other organizations in the city feel inspired to do similar projects — the kind that let people of all ages flex their creative muscles while producing something with a lasting impression.

I’m excited to see what else comes alive in this city as the weather heats up in the coming months.