Photo Credit: OSU Urban Art Space
Artists turn recycled materials into art during the Iron Artist Challenge Wednesday night at the OSU Urban Arts Space
The challenge was at The Ohio State Urban Arts Space in the Lazarus Building downtown as part of Welcome Week.
The event included an assortment of refreshments, music by disc jockey Walker Evans and, of course, art. The headlining event was the Iron Artist Challenge, an hour-long competition of four teams of artists whose task was to create art from piles of recycled materials people would normally throw away.
Each team was given the same amount of material which they sawed, cut and taped together to create unique pieces of art. Materials included skis, Chik-fil-A stuffed animals and a water spout complete with two knobs.
"It was very creative and they utilized most of the objects provided to them," said Nikki Windon, a junior in pre-veterinary medicine.
In the end, Jen Adrion, Adam Crum, Anne Holman and Adam Brouillette, four members of Couchfire Collective, were declared winners. Their large dragonfly received an overwhelming majority of audience votes.
Liz Celeste, an employee with the OSU Urban Arts Space, first suggested the event. She wanted to create an event that combined art and environmental awareness for Welcome Week.Celeste said she hopes to make the Iron Artist Challenge an annual event.
"I gathered donations from a number of local organizations and businesses, probably stuff they were going to throw away or was in their trash already," Celeste said, referring to the materials used in the event. "Imagine 'Iron Chef' plus 'Junkyard Wars,' that's how we're proposing it."
Jacque Statt, a junior in marketing, first heard about the Iron Artist Challenge at the Student Involvement Fair. She was curious to see how the event turned out and came with her roommate.
"It amazes me what [the artists] did with so little time and a crazy assortment of materials," she said. "I wish I was that creative."
The winning dragonfly creation, and possibly the other three pieces, will be displayed at the President's Brunch in the 4-H building before the Buckeye football game Saturday.
The Lazarus Building is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building, a type of "green" building. According to Celeste, recycled materials were used in a recent remodeling, and the building now has more efficient heating and cooling systems, including a greenhouse on the roof.
Throughout the year, the OSU Urban Arts Space hosts exhibitions and performances in the old Lazarus building at 50 W. Town St.
More information on upcoming events can be found at www.uas.osu.edu.
Matt Hancharick can be reached at hancharick.1@osu.edu
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