From May through September 2026, the Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center, in collaboration with the Topeka Rotary Club, will bring the internationally recognized Washed Ashore® exhibit to Topeka. The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center is one of five locations selected to participate in this powerful exhibition, which features featuring six monumental sculptures of ocean animals, all created from discarded plastic and other debris collected primarily along coastlines.

Each piece tells a story—about our everyday choices, plastic pollution, and the shared responsibility we have to protect our planet. Washed Ashore® transforms trash into thought-provoking art, making the invisible impacts of plastic pollution visible from northeast Kansas to the global ocean.