Trash 2 Art 2014, an innovative annual art competition and exhibition showcasing creatively recycled and repurposed materials, will take place from Nov. 5 to Dec. 5 in the Visual Arts Pavilion at the ArtsPark at Young Circle, at Hollywood Boulevard and U.S. 1 in Downtown Hollywood.
The eighth annual event is presented by Trash 2 Treasure (T2T), an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to locating clean, reusable materials and redistributing them to the community as valuable educational and artistic resources.
Trash 2 Art started out as an idea to raise some operating capital and awareness for the fledgling Fort Lauderdale-based organization and quickly grew into what is now considered South Florida’s premier repurposed art show.
For the fourth year, Trash 2 Art will be a juried exhibition with cash prizes awarded to the winners in the Professional Adult ($200 prize), Amateur Adult ($100 prize) and Children’s categories ($50 prize in K-5th grade, 6-8 grade and 9-12 grade). All mediums are welcome. The only requirement is that artwork be created from 75 percent recycled or repurposed materials such as those typically found at the Trash 2 Treasure Creative Reuse Center.
T2T offers a cornucopia of “clean scrap” at no cost with an annual membership – $60 for an individual and $150 for five members of a school or other organization. T2T has a few hundred members that include teachers, crafters and Girl Scouts. Among the vast inventory are art and office supplies, scrapbooking materials, greeting cards, fabrics, toys and wine bottle corks.
“We solicit businesses to donate what they normally would throw away,” said Lisa Max, T2T’s chairman of the board and a Hollywood resident. “There’s so much random stuff there, it’s impossible to describe.”
In addition to community events and the T2T Creative Reuse Center, the organization has a community garden and hosts workshops on such craft projects as how to create a ukulele from a cigar box. “An important part of our mission is creative play,” Max said.
Trash 2 Treasure recently relocated its operations and reopened on October 1 at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale, where Max hopes to significantly increase membership and awareness of the organization through greater linkage to other organizations and agencies, more workshops, and additional meeting, gallery and gift shop space.
Trash 2 Treasure also is enjoying its new community partnership with the Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).
“The CRA office operation is green-conscious and has recently rolled out an aggressive anti-litter program on the beach,” Max said. “Our whole mission is putting things to higher and better use. Reduce, reuse, recycle.”
A reception will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 15 at the Visual Arts Pavilion in conjunction with the monthly Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk. The reception is open to the public at no charge and will feature a meet-and-greet with artists and light refreshments.
Community partners also are being sought to help sponsor the event, as are volunteers and donations of clean scrap for the Trash 2 Treasure Creative Reuse Center. For more information on Trash 2 Treasure or Trash 2 Art 2014, call 1-888-828-8242, or visit www.trash2treasurefl.org or the organization’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Trash2TreasureFL.
There is no charge for on-street downtown parking between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Free on-street parking is available in three-hour increments between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Garage parking is available for $1 per hour at the Municipal Garages located at 251 S. 20th Ave. (between Harrison Street and Van Buren Street) and 251 N. 19th Ave. (between Tyler Street and Polk Street).
For more information on Hollywood’s Downtown and Beach districts, including Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk or other events, call the Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) at 954-924-2980 or visit www.hollywoodcra.org.