‘Scrapel Hill’ brings life to recycled goods

Artists are salvaging scraps to help the environment one sculpture at a time.

“The Art of Recycling: Sixth Annual Scrapel Hill Art Competition and Exhibit” at University Place began yesterday and will run through mid-November. The show features 11 artists who have created works from completely recycled materials.

Jeffrey York, the public arts administrator for the town of Chapel Hill, said the show started six years ago.

“One of us coined the term ‘Scrapel Hill,’” he said. “It stuck, and we’ve been doing (the exhibit) ever since.”

Local art columnist Debbie Meyer juried the show and picked two artists to win first- and second-place awards. The award ceremony will take place at tonight’s reception, which is open to the public.

“It’s all amazing work. Every piece of it is really good in different ways,” she said.

Meyer said her selection of the two best pieces would likely differ from those of other viewers and artists at the show — a notion she welcomed.

“I’m looking forward to hearing what other people think about the pieces,” she said. “They always notice other things that you don’t, because they bring their own experiences.”

Charron Andrews, a local artist who has participated in Scrapel Hill multiple times over the past six years, also said she enjoyed seeing what other artists bring to the show.

“I’m always inspired by what people make,” she said. “They seem to be getting better and better.”

York agreed, saying artists have become more serious about their submitted work.

“(They want) to present not only their art in the best light, but make some kind of commentary related to recycling or reuse or the environment,” he said. “We’ve seen that grow over the years.”

Andrews said she had always been interested in making art out of recycled materials partly because the materials are free but also because she can make use of things that would be thrown away anyway.

“If what I was doing had a negative impact on the environment, I would question it,” she said.

Meyer also said she enjoyed seeing what the artists could do with materials that would have been tossed out.

“I think it really helps people think about (the fact) that there’s different ways to do things that aren’t a part of the norm — and I mean in general, not just with art,” she said. “It’s about problem-solving, thinking about things and coming up with solutions.”

This show is particularly beneficial to Chapel Hill residents as many of them are already environmentally conscious, York said.

“This certainly draws attention to the notion of recycling in a creative way, “ he said.

“Hopefully people will read some of the short text that the artists have written about their works. Sometimes they will wax poetically about the environment and the issues about the environment that help them make the work.”

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