The Story of Bandonia: How a Dragon Became a Phoenix

Two years ago, travelers heading down U.S. 101 would slow their cars as something extraordinary began to rise from the coastal brush, a 12‑foot‑tall, 84‑foot‑long dragon made entirely from discarded car bumpers, old tires, and forgotten scraps. Under the hands of artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi, trash was transforming into myth.

The dragon was meant to be the proud guardian of the newly reimagined Art 101, a creative refuge of gallery spaces, thrift treasures, repurposing workshops, and places to rest beneath the trees with a cup of coffee. It was a symbol of what Art Park 101 stands for: beauty found in the overlooked, creativity born from resourcefulness, and the magic that happens when community and imagination meet.

But on October 22, 2022, a storm rolled in. Lightning struck the dragon, igniting the tires and burning the sculpture to the ground. What remained was a mound of melted rubber and heartbreak. Two months later, another storm brought down a power line and torched the remains a second time.

Most people would have walked away. Angela didn’t.

“I thought, OK, we need to show resilience. Nothing’s going to stop us.”

So she began again. This time, not with scales, but with feathers.

Where a dragon once stood, a phoenix began to rise.

Using a stainless‑steel frame and a treasure trove of discarded materials, plastic car bumpers, racing tires, car headlights, stainless‑steel utensils that chime in the wind, Angela shaped a new creature named Bandonia. Even the body of the phoenix tells a story: it’s formed from a massive plastic backdrop once destined for the trash after an international ocean conference. Saved, repurposed, reborn.

At 14 feet tall with a 22‑foot wingspan and a 64‑foot tail, Bandonia is now the largest sculpture at Art Park 101, a breathtaking reminder that destruction can become creation, and that resilience is its own kind of art.

Inside the gallery, the story continues. A coral reef made from discarded clothing and debris. A whimsical creature named Literella crafted from Dorito bags, toothbrushes, applesauce containers, and forgotten toys. A Fossil Fuel Monster with gas‑nozzle hands and an oil‑drum trunk.

Each sculpture is part of a larger tale Angela and her daughter Nicola have imagined: a cast of creatures arriving on Earth to teach humans how to care for the planet with more creativity, more compassion, and more courage.

Bandonia is the first to greet you — wings outstretched, rising from the ashes, inviting all of us to imagine what’s possible when we refuse to give up.