The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Art at the Dump event heralds spring for chilly Cornwall
CORNWALL >> Art at the Dump featured upcycled artworks, a gourmet bakery, and a recycled Little Free Library
Hosted by Gail Graham Jacobson of Cornwall and Lori Barker of Goshen on April 22 through 23, the 17th annual recycled art show and sale titled Art at the Dump added something a little different this year. Two Little Free Library mini lending libraries were a big hit with adults and especially youngsters attending the quirky event. They also fit in perfectly with the scheme since one was built with secondhand and salvaged materials, then painted with the words “Read, Recycle, Repeat!”
A gourmet bake sale was carried over for the two days, featuring such homemade fare as lemon rosemary shortbread, cinnamon twists, chocolate whoopee pies, carrot & parsnip cake slices and savory ham and cheese tartlets.
The sale, a benefit for the Cornwall Consolidated School eighth-grade field trip, was managed by Margie Budny and her son Gavin and Erin Hedden with her daughter Reilly, all from Cornwall. Gavin and Reilly comprise half of the current 7th grade, the smallest class in the school.
The transfer station pulled a steady crowd all day on Saturday, and many of those visitors dropped by the sand and salt barn to view, and buy, the artwork. Gail Jacobson jokingly shared that, “Art at the Dump is the beginning of the social season in Cornwall.” The transfer station also housed an impressive array of books, read and loved, then passed on to be read and loved by a new owner.
A sign announced that 30 percent of each artwork sale is donated to the art department of Cornwall Consolidated School. According to Lori Barker, next year’s theme will be creating artwork from recycled books — the perfect motif for both Little Free Libraries and a transfer station that serves as a book exchange.