11th Annual art at the Dump

CORNWALL — The 11th annual Art at the Dump took place at the Cornwall Transfer Station and sand shed on April 24 and 25. The show offered roughly 100 works of art, made from items found in the trash, that were sold for as little as $1 and for as much as $200.

Funds raised at the show benefit the art department at Cornwall Consolidated School. Eighth-grade students at the school took part, and raised nearly $100 selling coffee and pastries at what director Richard Griggs calls the “first real outdoor event of Cornwall for the spring.�

Griggs is an artist himself (although he prefers to call himself a “thingmaker� who works with stainless steel and scrap wood) but also does work for sculptor Tim Prentice, whose kinetic sculptures come alive with the aid of wind and breezes.

The diminutive recycled mobiles made by Prentice, whose works are on display at museums and corporate headquarters around the world, were the highest-priced items at the show with tags that ranged from $125 to $200.

The winner of the peoples’ choice award was Jane Prentice, who made a school desk wrapped in barbed wire to symbolize the new security protocols that have been a source of contention at Cornwall Consolidated School.

There were at least 30 artists at the event, which Griggs said is consistent with previous years. Thirty percent of all sales went to the Cornwall Consolidated School and the remaining 70 percent went to the artist who made the work.

The school made about $650, Griggs said, with the total funds raised about $1,985.

Griggs sold several birdhouses and had wire sculptures on display. He said he hopes that next year the event will be run by the school’s PTA.

“I’m a thingmaker, not an art show promoter,� he said modestly.

The show was started by Gail Jacobson, who stepped down as director three years ago.

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