Young people from Barton County turned used objects into works of art for the Recycling Rocks!!! contest at the Barton County Arts Center, located at 1401 Main in Great Bend. The entries can be seen there weekday afternoons, through the end of the month.
Judges for the show were Dave Barnes, director of the Shafer Gallery at Barton Community College, and Great Bend artist Vicki Richardson.
“We really looked to see if pieces reflected the use of recycled materials first and foremost, and then looked at the design and creativity,” Richardson said.
Contest rules asked area students in grades K through 12 to use recyclable materials or scraps for their works of art, explained Karen P. Neuforth, executive director of the Arts Center. “The purpose of the contest is to promote environmental awareness among students while encouraging artistic and creative thinking,” she said.
There were four age categories, but only two groups had entries, Neuforth said.
Curtis Moore won Best of Show and $50 for his bird sculpture made from plastic forks. Judges commented that the piece has a fine art quality and described the bird as “very elegant.”
In Category One, for grades K-2, brothers Esten and Braylon Moore won first place for their team entry, called “Tree-Cycling.” The piece was a “tree” that was decorated with soda pop cans, a used license plate and many other recycled materials.
Category Three, for middle school students, saw the most entries. In addition to Moore, prizes were awarded to Grace McCulley, first place; Arlene Madrid, second place; and Heath Scheider, third place.
First place entries each received a $25 Great Bend Chamber of Commerce gift certificate.
Girl Scout Troop 20210 assisted with this contest, which was sponsored by the Arts Center and Sunflower Diversified Services/First Step Recycling.