Recycled Art Show gives art, and people, a second chance

 Recycled Art Show
Silent auction: Noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, and Sunday, Sept. 23; 4-8 p.m.

Go see the art Monday-Friday, Sept. 24-28; 2-10 p.m. Sept. 29, Pearl Building, 214 S. 15th St. Free. Silent auction closes at 8 p.m. Sept. 29.
By Dana Oland - doland@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 09/21/07

To some it's just old magazines, torn paper, old broken pieces of discarded junk tossed away and forgotten. But in the eyes of someone with creative intent, these bits of ephemera can become art.

Second Chance Building Materials Center, a non-profit business that strives to give recovering addicts a second chance at life, is offering artists a way to give a second chance to anything and everything with its Recycled Art Show.

It's all under the umbrella of Supportive Housing and Innovative Partnerships, a non-profit organization that builds housing and provides support for people recovering from substance abuse. The non-profit group also is trying to create a holistic recovery center in Boise. Money raised from the show will benefit the group's drug and alcohol treatment programs.

Nearly 100 pieces from area artists will fill the Pearl Building in Boise's Linen District. The show will open Saturday, Sept. 22, and an auction closes at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, during Rock for Recovery Rally, an annual concert in the parking-lot party next to Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine at 15th and Grove streets.

You can bid on the art in the silent auction during the week. Artists Karen Bubb and Francis Fox, along with gallery owner Jacqueline Crist, will select prize winners and announce them at the rally.

Using recycled and found objects in art always has been popular with artists. But with the trend to be environmentally correct, it's becoming more popular, and more shows like this are popping up around the country.

The artists here used all sorts of media, from used nuts and bolts to dryer lint.

To enter, the artists had to make their pieces from 75 percent recycled materials. Many artists, such as Clintron Shirley, used 100 percent recycled materials.

Shirley created a sculpture from three plastic rocking horses he found in a Dumpster, and black and white paint and epoxy he bought at a garage sale. "I wanted to take it to the hilt," he said.

His sculpture echoes a deeper message. He touches on the parallels between reclaiming lives from addiction and reclaiming art from refuse.

"It looks precarious. You're enjoying the ride, but you look at it and it makes you nervous. That's part of the statement," he said. "The yin and the yang are in perfect balance, and yet life sometimes seems out of control."

A recovery center is desperately needed, Shirley said.

"In a city this size, with the white-powder drug problem we have, it's a shame to just send addicts to prison. They come out sober, but not even close to being recovered."

Dana Oland: 377-6442