Grab bags available for Jeannette gallery’s upcycled art contest

Shirley McMarlin | Friday, October 9, 2020 10:30 a.m.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

You Are Here gallery in Jeannette is offering Upcycle Challenge ‘20, its second annual art competition devoted to recycled and reused materials.

You Are Here art center and gallery in Jeannette is out to prove that one person’s junk is another one’s treasure, with the Upcycle Challenge ‘20, an art competition using recycled and reused materials.

For a $10 entry fee, participants receive a package of miscellaneous arts and crafts materials from the center’s Oh, Scrap! reuse center, all of which must be used to create a single work of 2-D or 3-D art. No art-making experience is necessary.

Bags will be available beginning Saturday. Gallery hours are noon-6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 406 Clay Ave.

People are free to add materials to their creations, but it is mandatory to use something from all of the items in the package.

“For example, if you have a ball of yarn, you don’t have to use the whole thing, but every item has to be represented,” said Mary Briggs, co-founder of the center.

Entries will be examined in this regard and incomplete entries will not be considered for the award.

This is the second year that You Are Here has hosted the challenge.

“We had a lot of fun with it last year, and we have Oh, Scrap! that’s full of stuff, so we thought we’d do it again,” Briggs said.

Finished works must be delivered to You Are Here by Nov. 13. Entries will be displayed during the center’s annual “Off The Wall” show and sale of works by area artists, set for Nov. 14-Dec. 18.

The winner, to be determined by popular vote of gallery visitors, will receive $50 and an Oh, Scrap! gift basket.

Last year’s winner, Gloria Gonzalez of Hempfield, said she is considering entering again.

“The project was both challenging and fun. It’s interesting to see what you can come up with using the same materials everyone else is working with,” said Gonzalez, whose photography and painting is seen in exhibitions around the area. “You surprise yourself when you create something with limited supplies.”

You Are Here also is offering another public art-making opportunity through its MAD*LAB project. Participants can sign up to paint benches made of recycled materials that will be placed around the community, along with painting murals and nylon flags.

The first completed bench is destined for the Jeannette Library, Briggs said.

To sign up for a MAD*LAB work slot or for more information on the upcycled art challenge, call 724-578-3332 or email yah406clay@gmail.com.