Utah State University - » Arts and business mix it up at Earth Day street fest

Arts and business mix it up at Earth Day street fest

April 23rd, 2011 Posted in Arts and Life

Story and photos by Emily Pannell Johnson

LOGAN—The go-green movement is about helping people gain a new perspective, it’s about inspiring people to change, and the Cache Valley Center for the Arts knows where that inspiration comes from.

“I would say, almost more than anything here, art is what changes people…if anything is going to encourage people to look at things differently, it’s the arts,” Program Director Amanda Castillo said at the Earth Day Downtown Street Festival Friday.

“We hope people will stop and think, ‘how can I use my resources to the best of their ability?’”

Castillo said ScrapArtsMusic and the desire to have a “junk jam” led to the event. She said they liked the idea of the community coming together with instruments made from whatever’s lying around.

Local business owners and vendors also attended the festival to display not only their artistic chops, but their resourcefulness. Jeffrey Keller of Sunrise Cyclery, 138 N. 100 East, said his inspiration came from a pile of old, worn-out bicycle tires.

“I wanted to figure out a way to use these things so they don’t just go to the dump,” Keller said. The result is planters, seats and even a backpack made from bicycle tires, as well as hangers made from old bicycle rims. The seats, Keller said, are filled with plastic bags and bottles, paper and old packing materials. “The adage goes ‘reduce, reuse, recycle,’ and these items are doing all of that,” Keller said; not to mention, the seats are indestructible.

Melinda Petro of Green Leaf Gifts & Greenhouse in Providence brought along homemade jewelry, decorative gourds and even offered to let people plant their own daisy. Storee Powell of Whimsical Gnome Workshop displayed her upcycled tiaras, earrings and decorations. For the kids, the festival had potter’s wheels set up, face painting, sidewalk chalk, and animal footprint stamps from the Stokes Nature Center.

NW

Tags: Arts, CVAA, Downtown Logan, Earth Day 2011, street festival, Upcycling