At the end of November the Florida Museum of Natural History and Alachua County Office of Waste Alternatives hosted the 11th Annual Trashformations program. Trashformations is a juried art competition open to all middle school, high school and college students in Alachua County. Each piece entered into the competition must be comprised of at least 70% recycled, recyclable or reused materials.This year, over 40 entries were displayed at the Florida Museum. Each piece demonstrated new, expressive, and innovative ways to recycle household materials. With nearly 300 people in attendance, awards were presented in three divisions: middle school, high school and college. Awards were given to local students from schools including Westwood Middle, Oak Hall, Santa Fe College and the University of Florida. A winner was also selected from each division to receive a Waste Watcher Award, for artwork demonstrating the best use of recycled materials as well as a Museum Choice Award, for pieces with natural history related themes.
Award winning sculptures ranged in subject matter from a tree-hugging robot to a giant angler fish. Inspired by the positive feedback from the public, some Trashformations participants have even gone on to sell their recycled creations following the event. Trashformations provides students with a unique opportunity to display their work in a museum gallery and to gain public recognition of their skills.
For more information about Trashformations, please contact the Alachua County Office of Waste Alternatives.
