Thanks to local artists and their bodacious bonitos, the Lloyd Center for the Environment recently received a major donation. In total, the Art Drive was able to donate $5,500 to the center, a record high for the art tour.

The Art Drive celebrated its eighth year during the second weekend of August. The Drive is a studio tour and juried show capped at 32 artists from Dartmouth and Westport. Stops on the tour are within a 15-mile radius between the two towns. There was also a special exhibition in Padanaram called “Rising Stars” that gathered young artists from local schools.

A portion of the proceeds from artists’ sales go to the Lloyd Center. In addition, each of the participants paints or designs a four-foot wooden fish. Between the juried artists and the Rising Stars, there are 36 fish available for auction.

In the past, artists have painted cod, bass and flounder. This year’s fish was the bonito, which is a member of the tuna family. The fish were displayed around Dartmouth and Westport earlier in the summer and were auctioned on eBay between Aug. 1 and 10.

“It was a good year. We had a great auction and a great tour,” said Beverly Carter, one of the artists who launched the drive eight years ago.

“This is such a fertile area for art. It’s one of the reason why I moved here. When we were looking for a place to relocate, it was one of the points that tipped the scale,” said Carter.

She said Drive organizers have yet to select the featured fish for next year's tour, but she did say it will be a species native to the area. When a decision is made, the wooden fish will be produced at Concordia Company during the winter months.

In the meantime, she said she’s trying to come up with ways to improve the art tour for next summer.

“We’re trying to think of other places we can have the fish so that more people can see them in advance in person,” she said.

The 2016 Art Drive will take place on Aug. 6 and 7.