By: Troy Lambert
Published: January 8, 2009
Stop! Don’t throw that junk out. Bring your junk to Pensacola Junior College’s “Junk to Art Workshop.”
On Oct 24, 2008, as part of Pensacola Junior College’s sustainability project, Assistant Professor of Communications, Jen Ehrhardt, and Adjunct of Philosophy, Judy Golding, started a series of workshops where artists, students and anyone who wanted to get creative could come together and turn something old into something new.
Friday Dec 5, was the last “Junk to Art Workshop” of the fall semester, but the workshop will be back on 2-6p.m Friday. Jan 23, 2009 in room 509 and will continue to meet once a month thereafter.
The group uses whatever they can find to create their art. Much of their materials come from local coastal cleanup efforts as well as things found in the home or on the side of the road. Some call what they do “found objects art.” One benefit of junk to art is that it’s a good low-budget project. Most of the materials used are free because they are found around the house.
Ehrhardt, 35, said, “The idea for this semester was to be able to use local artists and art students to show their work and share their techniques.”
Golding and Ehrhardt want to encourage people to come out and participate. They say they like having guest artists, but they also really want more student artists to participate because the workshop is a resume building experience in which they can participate.
“Clean out your closet, clean out your kitchen drawers, throw the stuff in a box and bring it,” said Golding.
The faculty and students alike came up with some very interesting works of art.
There was a great atmosphere in the room. Artists of all kinds, young and old, were hustling back and forth from the junk pile to their work area. It was a sight to see when their eyes lit up after finding just the right piece from the pile.
Ehrhardt’s “Mediated Plot,” which looked like something that would be hanging in Pinhead from Hellraiser’s living room, was definitely my favorite. It was a black wooden frame, and the front was lined with old screws that all looked different, adding a lot of character to the piece. Red yarn and black tape, which looked to be from VHS and Betamax cassettes, looped around the screws in different geometric patterns creating a stunning effect.
Sandy Vick, administrative assistant, for the English/Communications department, was working on making a new book out of an old book for her 2-year-old granddaughter. The new book will contain pictures of her family in scenes related to the books original text.
On one page Vick created a scene with her granddaughter sleeping in a tiny bed by fastening lacy cloth for blankets to the pictures and the page. The opposite page spoke of how mattresses are made with springs.
Shelby Dillman, 17, is a dual-enrollment student who will be attending the University of North Florida in Jacksonville as an Art Education major. Dillman was working on an abstract piece:
“I’m doing this whole idea that is basically an abstract piece made out of an old book that nobody wants. I’m folding the pages to where they’ll eventually all standup and it will almost pop out at you in every possible angle,” said Dillman.
Dillman’s book project was one of this reporter’s favorites. It turned out very well, but she was unsure of what to name it. Golding suggested, “Giving Wings to Words.”
No artists were harmed in the making of these projects; however there was an incident with the gorilla glue and the accidental binding of some furniture together.