Start out with items found in the cardboard recycling dumpster behind Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op in Grandin Village; paint it, decorate it and voila! – a work of art is born. That’s the modus operandi behind many pieces in a student art show that are on display at the Co-Op through the end of September.
Professional artist and art teacher Katherine Devine worked with her students from after school, evening and private lesson classes. “We challenged ourselves to make art out of things we could find in the environment, rather than spending money on additional things. It’s very exciting; we’ve been having a lot of great responses,” said Devine, who teaches right across the street from the Co-Op in her own studio at 1320 Grandin Road. “The students have been really inspired … and experimental.”
Art students from age seven and up are taking part in the Natural Foods Co-Op show. Outside the store on opening day was Ida McMillan-Daps, a Woodrow Wilson middle schooler, and one of Devine’s students in the show. She used mixed media, starting with cardboard, duct tape and paint to create a pop-up piece.
“We went into the Co-Op’s dumpster and looked around, and found stuff we thought would be cool to use,” said McMillan-Daps. “It was a lot of fun.” The whimsical attitude displayed in many of the pieces – Katherine Devine’s influence as well perhaps — also indicates that the dumpster art project may indeed have been fun.
McMillan-Daps concurred, “I enjoy her classes.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]
