Starting in 2022, the Edisto Chamber of Commerce created the Turtle Tide Art Project as a way to benefit local businesses, artists, and non-profit organizations. The Turtle Tide Art Project will help raise funding for a variety of local non-profits. In addition to supporting non-profits, the turtles will offer residents and visitors a glimpse into Edisto’s creative art community, as well as provide informational facts about the loggerhead turtles that call the Island home.
The turtles arrive as blank slates before local artists transform each one into their own unique artistic creations. After the “Reveal” event in May/June, the turtles then take up residence in Edisto over Turtle Season (May-October). During Edisto’s Fall Fest in October, they will be put up for auction to find their “forever home”. Proceeds from the auction will go to the designated non-profits associated with each turtle.
This year’s artwork features more than just turtles. There is a deer, a dolphin, and a shell that will be painted and auctioned this year.
How do they find their forever home?
A Turtle Auction (in conjunction with our Fall Festival) is held in October where all 10 turtles will be auctioned off. All the money raised for each turtle will be donated to their designated non-profit. Join the fun and you might even take home your favorite turtle.
2025 Turtle Tide Guide
We have created an interactive Turtle Tide Guide to accompany the project! Once the turtles are in place, the guide will help you discover all ten of the turtles around Edisto, learn more about the project, and why protecting Edisto’s turtles is so important. You will be able to click on each turtle to open their locations on Google Maps or download your very own copy for reference.
If you final 10 and take a picture with each one, tagging it #EdistoTurtleTide, you will be entered to win a prize! You can also email your photos to chamber@edistochamber.com or message us through our Facebook or Instagram pages.
You can find physical copies of the guides at the Edisto Chamber of Commerce or at each sponsor location for the turtles.
