This year’s Santa Monica Sustainable Student Art Sculpture Contest winners sculptures are now on display in City Hall’s Main Lobby where they will remain through June 20.
Santa Monica school children were recently invited to submit sculptures crafted from items typically recycled or thrown away as part of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division’s 2012 Art of Recycling Sustainable Student Sculpture Contest.
For weeks students worked on sculptures that fit into this year’s theme: “Zero Waste—Imagine a Waste Free Santa Monica.”
Using the knowledge gained from in-class presentations on the concept of zero waste, students were able to Rethink, Repurpose, and Reuse materials found in their everyday environments that are typically discarded.
More than 200 students participated in the contest with entries ranging from small cardboard beach houses to life-sized mannequins made from paper towel rolls and paper mache.
While all students are winners, a few were chosen to receive special awards for their innovative representation of the theme.
A group of City of Santa Monica staff and volunteers selected first, second and third place winners in four groups: Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
A final category, the People’s Choice Award, was decided by city employees during Public Works Week.
The vote resulted in a tie between a fourth-grade student who recreated the Titanic and a senior high school student who created a fighter jet! Students will receive special prizes for their efforts, including reusable bags and desktop worm composting containers.
All sculptures were on display at the 21st Annual Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park on May 19 and the winners traveled to City Hall, 1685 Main Street, where they are now on display through June 20.
