The walls of the Western Plains Cultural Centre have come alive with recycled packaging in the form of artworks as part of the annual Waste 2 Art exhibition.
The 2024 Waste 2 Art exhibition is now open and will be on show until 21 July 2024. The exhibition features over 50 artworks from school students, community groups and artists in the Dubbo Region.
The official opening of Waste 2 Art was held on Saturday 1 June 2024 at the Western Plains Cultural Centre, where the winners and highly commended of each category were announced.
Waste 2 Art encourages everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle with a focus on behavioural change about the things people throw away. This year’s theme was The Year of Packaging.
“All of the winners across the various categories were announced at the official opening. It was a tough job for the judges as we received so many amazing artworks this year,” Dubbo Regional Council Education Officer, Rebecca Walker said.
“Waste 2 Art is such a great example of how creative minds can take a problem such as rubbish and look to find a solution. The result is resourceful artworks, but also learning about the changes our waste management behaviour can have.”
“For this year’s competition we received over 50 entries across 13 different categories. It is great to see the Waste 2 Art Competition go from strength to strength each year.”
This year Waste 2 Art workshops were specifically coordinated for educational institutions and delivered by environmental artist Ronda Sharpe and Council’s Waste Recovery Education Officer, Hamish Campbell.
The workshops combined an educational component where students learnt about the importance of recycling whilst the creativity component focused on how to turn rubbish into art with the support of artist Ronda Sharpe.
“These Waste 2 Art workshops were really popular and well received by the students and educators who attended,” Mrs Walker said.
For more information about the Waste 2 Art exhibition, visit www.westernplainsculturalcentre.org/waste2art.
Waste 2 Art 2024 Winners:
Primary 2D - Isabella Grant No Tree, No Me
Primary 3D - Dubbo Christian School Problematic Packaging
Primary Functional - Caleb Peeters Illuminating the Beauty of Waste
High School 3D - Molly Jones The Demon Behind Every Purchase
High School Functional - Dubbo School of Distance Education Reimagining (A Tapestry of Recycled Landscapes)
Community 2D - Dubbo Christian Preschool Mulbirrang Prep String of Birds
Community 3D - Jeff Kleining My Big Rooster
Community Functional - Playmates Cottage Kangaroo Recycling Bin!
Open 2D - Susan Yaghijan Seabird Diet
Open 3D - Alan Stanger The Porch Pirate
Open Functional - Candice Locke Diamond in the Rough