PARK CITY – Gallery MAR, located at 580 Main Street, will host a special Recycled Bottle Cap Pin Making Workshop on Monday, December 28th from 4 pm until 7 pm as a fundraiser for Recycle Utah.  Inspired by Mexican and Southwestern art, local teacher and artist Kathleen Briley will demonstrate how to create beautiful decorative “wearable” pins out of recycled bottle caps.

Recycle Utah will provide the bottle caps and pins, all you need to bring is your imagination and creativity. Refreshments will be served and the workshop is free with a $5 donation to Recycle Utah.

Maren Bargreen, owner of Gallery MAR, opens up her gallery to local non-profits for fundraising events on a monthly basis and this month it’s for Recycle Utah.

“It’s my way of giving back to the community and supporting important causes like recycling and environmental conservation. Thanks to Recycle Utah I am able to recycle everything at Gallery MAR – especially all of the shipping and packing materials I use.”

This community workshop is for all ages, children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Pre-register early – space is limited.

We’ve just finished hosting Recycle Utah at Gallery MAR for the “Charity Gallery Stroll,” here in Park City.  Recycle Utah has some new members, we gave away a gorgeous art gift basket, and educated some newbies about recycling practices and “going green.” Did you know that the most “eco-friendly” time to run the dishwasher is at night? A little white noise for your slumber.

Here at Gallery MAR we recycle, well, almost everything! We reuse cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and peanuts, and re-use and recycle our paper products as well as cardboard, plastic, and aluminum. We’re very fortunate to enjoy  the recycling capabilities that we have here in Park City.

A few of our artists also recycle products and found-objects and use them in their artworks. Sustainable metal and wood artist Joe Norman makes tables and pedestals out of found objects, reclaimed palette wood, and car and bike parts. And Michael Bingham has used reclaimed highway signs and car parts in his wall pieces, towers and beacons. Bingham’s work is featured above; the wing of this sculpture is from an old Coca Cola billboard.

When shipping artwork (or moving house, as I am this week), you can re-use a well-made cardboard box at least 4 times before the edges start to fray. At that point, the cardboard gets cut into rectangles and becomes a shield between paintings in our back storage area. The life of the tree keeps on giving! Bubble wrap, Styrofoam peanuts, and other “fillers” can be re-used indefinitely and there are some fantastic new biodegradable options in the packing department.

I know my collectors appreciate that their fine art purchases are brought to them in the most “green” way possible. Now, if we could just get Federal Express to offset their carbon imprint…