Food, Drinks and Art at the Annual Junk 2 Genius

Looking to add a "Trophy du Trash" to your art repertoire? The Davis Art Center will host its 4th annual Junk 2 Genius event Friday in partnership with Roseville’s reCREATE.

The event is free of charge and runs from 5 to 9 p.m. right outside of the center. Participants will compete in a timed “sculpt-off” using recycled materials. Local foods and wine will be available for purchase onsite.

Donna Sangwin, founder and director of reCREATE, said she brought the idea for the event to the Davis Art Center four and a half years ago. She said the reCREATE art center in Roseville is very small and that the Davis Art Center was a better venue for a bigger event.

“In Portland, I had seen this competition in a scrap and reuse place and liked the idea of a timed art competition as well as creating collaborative art in the community,” Sangwin said. “You don’t get to do something like this very often.”

She said that she often has trouble explaining the event to people, but stated that it’s like the Food Network T.V. show Chopped since it’s a timed competition, participants have no idea of what the theme or materials will be prior to the event.

“It’s a fun, creative experience,” Sangwin said.

Tiva Lasiter, the Davis Art Center’s publicity director for the event, said it’s a great team building exercise for the teams themselves and a great way for people to learn how creative one can be with reusing materials.

“It’s a community development activity and good way to learn about environmentalism and art,” Lasiter said. “It’s also a fundraiser for the Davis Art Center."

This year, Junk 2 Genius will also coincide with the closing celebration for their Discovery Art exhibit inside of the center. Some of this year’s sponsors, as of Sept. 5, include Davis Waste Removal, Davis Ace Hardware, the Davis Food Co-op and Downtown Davis. In-kind sponsors are Coppola Winery, Davis Waste Removal, ReCREATE, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Sudwerk. Steve's Pizza and Taqueria Guadalajara are the food vendors.

The 2011 Trophy du Trash winner was Morse Remodeling and the People’s Choice went to the University Retirement Community. In 2009 and 2010 St. James School took home the People’s Choice award. Gold Standard Diagnostics won the Trophy du Trash in 2010 and Hibbert Lumber Co. won the prior year.