Turning trash into treasure, Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival starts Friday November 13th

Prize-winning doll from recycled materials- see below for more info
Sarah Pierpont, show coordinator

Garbage is chic and functional. That’s the message of the 2009 Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. Now in its 11th year, the event is being held at the El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe November 13th through 16th. El Museo is located steps from the Rail Runner station in The City Different’s trendy new Railyard district. The event is held in conjunction with America Recycles 2009, Keep Santa Fe Beautiful and New Mexico Recycling Awareness Month. Recycle Santa Fe's website calls it “one of the hippest, eco-conscious art markets and juried art events of its time”.

To be eligible for consideration for the show, an artist has to use at least 75% recycled materials in their work. The reclaimed objects include some expected items such as wood, paper, fabric, metal, glass and aluminum cans. But, as imagination has no bounds, some artists are working with some rather unusual discards including: fabric-softener sheets, plastic bags, dental floss, razor-blades, bees wax, computer circuit-boards, bottle caps and candy wrappers. It’s great way to keep stuff out of the landfills. Artist Julie Anderson, owner of the Costume Salon says that people bring her their useable cast-offs. She gets things like paint, fabric, broken jewelry. She said that the word is out. If she cannot use the items, she passes them on to Good Will or disposes of them.

The Festival features two juried art shows, one for adult artists and one for kids, pre-K through high school. The juried show awards prizes. There will be about 50 booths selling recycled art, 31 artists have done this event before and 19 are new. While many of the artists involved in Recycle Santa Fe are from New Mexico, Illinois, Georgia, Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Arizona are also represented.

Attendees can view and buy collages, picture frames, clocks, furniture, rugs, dolls, masks and more. Want to see what garments and accessories can be created from discards, a little innovation and a dash of whimsy? Come to the recycled fashion show on Friday evening at 7 p.m. There is a $5.00 admission charge or you can watch on closed circuit TV outside the show area.

According to Sarah Pierpont, the Festival’s coordinator, “The Recycled Art Market was the core idea for this whole festival.” She goes on to say it was “conceived at a local craft show on a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1999 by Mark Dabelstein and Joe Buffalo Nickels. They both wanted a specialized market to showcase recycled art. A serendipitous connection with Nancy Judd at  Keep Santa Fe Beautiful propelled the idea to the first efforts that November.” Pierpont, who is the Deputy Director for the New Mexico Recycling Coalition is passionate about recycling.

The show starts Friday November 13th. Hours are from 5 to 9 p.m. General admission is $5.00 children under 12 are free. There is a $5 entrance fee for a seat at the fashion show, unless they are in a parent or guardian's lap. There is a free closed circuit viewing area of the fashion show available to adults and children. The show is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free to all both days.  Saturday and Sunday there are hands-on art activities for kids and they can take their creations home. There will also be music starting around noon.

If you are a fan of recycling or just want to see what people with big imaginations and lots of talent can do with garbage and discards, come to the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival

Read about Julie Anderson, one of the artists at Recycle Santa Fe 2009.

Photo info: Winner of juried 2008 Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival, Rosemary Barile's doll is made from old fabric softener sheets stained with tea bags and accessorized with old, dyed dental floss and razor blades.