Dumpster Art Aims To Brighten Up Power Inn's Image
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – It's an area of Power Inn that's never looked so pretty.
"We have 10 dumpsters, 10 professional artists," said Sally Freedlander from the Power Inn Alliance.
Massive dumpsters, 22 feet long, old and beat up, are being completely transformed.
"This is a very old dumpster. It had stickers all over it that said 'sole madera,' meaning 'wood only. At some point, its only purpose was to collect wood," said artist Geioa Fonda.
Now, the dumpster's purpose is much bigger: to let people know what this part of Sacramento is all about.
"I hope they'll see that the Power Inn area is a very creative, vibrant community and we do a lot of cool things," Freedlander said.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Art Commission hired the artists to try and dispose of the area's existing image.
"It's a mishmash of warehouses, recycling, soccer fields," Freedlander said. "Our history is recycling and dumpsters and we're just using the dumpsters as a canvas."
The works of art are now being showcased in the most interesting of ways.
"I'm about 30 hours now and I'm trying to keep it under 50," Fonda said. "I've gotten very intimate with this dumpster in terms of having to rub down the surface and scrape it and clean it before I can paint it,"
The rusty patches and holes all make it difficult for the artists, but you would never know by looking at the dumpsters – or better yet, going inside.
"Who can say they've had lunch in a dumpster with a city council member? Me," Freedlander said.
Each of the dumpster art pieces is unique and festive in their own way. But similar characteristics will certainly catch your eye and make you think twice when throwing out the trash.
"I really like to repurpose things [to] give an object a second chance," Fonda said.
The gallery will be available to check out at 3101 Power Inn Road from June 14 to August 30.