Friday, January 9, 2009

Not your mother's reclaimed art!

I recently spent a day at Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park, taking picture for a photography final. But it got me thinking.... Seattle has this huuuge expanse of land set aside for no reason besides the beauty of artistic form. I wonder how many other cities have this same (or similar) love for artistic form?

Well, there is a place in Portland, Oregon called The Rebuilding Center, which is "a project of Our United Villages, is vibrant resource working to strengthen the environmental, economic, and social fabric of local communities. Founded by volunteers in 1998, The Rebuilding Center is the nation’s largest non-profit reuse center for salvaged construction and remodeling materials." Within the Community Gathering Space at the RC, is a unique project: a three-story tall tree sculpture of trees made from recycled metal and donated objects.

Community Trees, an art installation made by Suri Iron Shop for The Rebuilding Center, "features cob tree trunks topped with branches and leaves crafted from reclaimed metal and household objects donated by community members."

Where else are there works like this? What about the Rebuilding Center, are there places of this sort in your city?

***I must send out props to Dan B. who was the one to bring my attention to this fantastic example of recycling and art. Thank you!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey now...what are you really trying to say?!
~your mother ; )

LynnA said...

Larkin, this is an interesting question as to whether other towns do recycled art. I know in Salida, Colorado they have a sculptor garden but I never paid attention as to whether the material is recycled. I could not find anything on the web to indicate as such. However, in our travels this year we will keep an eye out for such art. LynnA