Clean your clothes, make a sculpture, bid for a cause

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

By Kate Balog

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING - Sculptor David Edgar was in his 50s when he had a mid-life epiphany. He had been sculpting in steel for more than 25 years when, one fateful day, he was invited to a Super Bowl party. The Carolina Panthers were playing, so he quickly made a mask – team colors and all – out of a plastic detergent bottle. He’s been working with recycling plastic ever since.

“I find my material within a one-mile radius of my house,” he said. “My wife and I go on a constitutional health walk every morning, and on recycling day I find plastic recyclable containers and string them up like fish and bring them home.”

Edgar cleans them with soap and vinegar. He cuts them up with a utility knife, tin snips and heavy-duty scissors. Instead of glue, he uses machine screws, staples and a pop-rivet to put things together. He doesn’t use paint. Instead, “the colors are focus-group approved. Corporations like Proctor and Gamble have already done the marketing to figure out their color choices. Of course, you have to be conscious about your color combinations,” he said.

Edgar’s whimsical sea life creations are derived from personal experience. His work has always been grounded in found objects, but as a production artist for Disney who designed pieces for Epcot Center and Disney World he got the chance to experiment with “playful imagery.” An avid fisherman and scuba diver, he has always been intrigued by marine life. Folk art inspired “The Plastiquarium,” a fantastic world born of a story where increasing phosphate levels in the planet’s marine environment caused new, synthetic life forms to emerge.

Edgar presents a free lecture-slideshow about his underwater plastic world at 7 p.m. on Friday at the ArtSpace Gallery in the Center for the Arts, 240 S. Glenwood St. He also will teach a workshop Saturday and Sunday, co-sponsored by The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Jackson Community Recycling and The Art Association. Call the Art Association at 733-6379 for more details.

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It’s a win-win situation when you can buy new art and contribute to a cause. This year, orphanages in Thailand will receive all the proceeds from Rena Trail’s annual “Art for Orphans,” 7-9 p.m. Thursday at the Hard Drive Café at 1110 Maple Way.
The silent auction has raised money in previous years for orphanages in India, Pakistan and Uganda. This year, money will benefit ZOE Children’s Home in Chang Mai. ZOE, a Christian organization, was launched to proactively rescue children who are at risk of being sold into human slavery and child prostitution. According to their website,

“600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. Fifty [percent] of those are children and the majority are forced into the commercial sex trade.”  ZOE aims provide a safe atmosphere for rescued children, most from the North Thailand hills.  The children are taught Christian principles and leadership skills in the hopes they will emerge as future spokespeople in the fight against crimes of humanity.
Years ago, Trail heard stories about young abandoned Indian girls and thought if she had the money, she would help them. “My daughter lives like a princess compared to these children. I thought of ways I could help and then came up with the idea of a silent auction. I thought we should at least give it a shot. Then we had a great response the first year.” The first year yielded $7000 for the orphanage in India, the second year brought $6000 to the orphanage in Pakistan, and the third year saw $6000 for Uganda. This year, Foster Friess has already donated $6000 for the World Orphans Organization.
In addition to her fundraising commitment, Trail is a masseuse at One to One Wellness, an occasional furniture restorer, and single mom to a ten-year-old daughter. Is it stressful coordinating such a large project every year? “A little,” she said, but “it’s the most enjoyable thing I do. If it paid the bills, I would do this 24/7.”

Available is artwork from Randy Nottingham, September Vhay, Jennifer Hoffman, Scott Christiansen and Ken Ringholz. Also offered is a Snow King season pass, a tandem paragliding session, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort day passes, a pair of Rossignol skis from Hoback Sports, massage sessions and dining certificates.
For more information, call Rena Trail at 734-5264.
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Clean your clothes, make a sculpture, bid for a cause | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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