Entry No. 25 — the Santa Fe file — filed under: outdoor
Ethyl the Whale
An 82-foot life-size blue whale built from hand-recycled plastic trash by Meow Wolf artists Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova, permanently installed at Santa Fe Community College. Meow Wolf purchased it and had it moved from San Francisco to Santa Fe, unveiling it on Earth Day, April 22, 2019.
The story
You don't expect to find an 82-foot blue whale stranded in the high desert, let alone behind a community college off Richards Avenue. Ethyl exists because artists Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova took single-use plastic waste—trash that would otherwise spend centuries rotting in landfills—and hand-recycled it into a full-scale marine leviathan. Her skin is a textured, mottled patchwork of shredded polyethylene containers and discarded plastic refuse, named directly after the polymer that shapes her.
Ethyl wasn't born in New Mexico. She was originally commissioned in San Francisco to draw attention to ocean pollution. When her time there was up, Santa Fe art collective Meow Wolf bought the sculpture, arranged her cross-country haul to the desert, and permanently installed her on the Santa Fe Community College campus. She was formally unveiled on Earth Day, April 22, 2019, rearing her dorsal ridge against a high-desert backdrop hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline.
The quiet horror of the piece isn't just her physical presence; it's the arithmetic on display. Stand by her flank and read the educational placards detailing consumer plastic volume: roughly 300,000 pounds of plastic enter the ocean every nine minutes—the exact weight of a full-grown blue whale. It’s an ecological monument constructed entirely out of modern discarded trash, quietly waiting for you on a quiet campus loop.
What it's like
Drive the SFCC campus loop at 6401 Richards Avenue and head toward the back grounds. Ethyl sits outdoors in an open field, completely free to access at any hour. A dusk visit is ideal: as the sun dips behind the mountains, light catches the recycled plastic texture of her hide, and her illuminated outline stands out against the dark desert sky. Give yourself 15 to 20 minutes to walk her entire 82-foot length, inspect the melted milk-jug detailing up close, and read the waste-statistic signage.
The move: Drive the SFCC campus loop at dusk to see Ethyl illuminated, walk her full 82-foot length, then read the placards on what a lifetime of one person's plastic waste actually looks like assembled into an animal.
- 📍 Santa Fe Community College campus
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 6401 Richards Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87508
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Meow Wolf: House of Eternal Return — Since Meow Wolf purchased and funded Ethyl's permanent relocation to Santa Fe, visiting their flagship immersive universe three miles away completes the narrative.
- Make Santa Fe — After seeing what hand-recycled plastic trash can become at monumental scale, head to this community makerspace to see local builders shaping raw materials with industrial tools.
- Bostick & Sullivan — Pair a modern sculpture made from 21st-century synthetic refuse with a working photography supply house keeping 19th-century wet-plate chemical processes alive.
Good to know
How much does it cost to visit Ethyl the Whale?
Nothing. She is permanently installed outdoors on the Santa Fe Community College campus and free to view 24/7.
How did Ethyl get her name?
She is named after polyethylene, the single-use plastic polymer used to make the trash that composes her body.
Who built Ethyl the Whale?
Artists Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova created Ethyl, with support from Meow Wolf, who later purchased and relocated the sculpture to Santa Fe.
Where is Ethyl located on campus?
She is situated outdoors behind the main buildings on the Santa Fe Community College campus at 6401 Richards Ave.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: sfcc.edu · Atlas Obscura · newmexicomagazine.org · building180.com
last checked: 2026-07-20