Recycled Art Show

“The Recycled Show: A No-Waste Art Exhibit” was on display this past weekend. The show’s roots began in 2014 when local artist Jami Joelle Nielsen approached Art From Scrap and suggested the creation of an annual exhibit of art made from recycled materials. The event happened that year at the Art From Scrap gallery. But then disappeared until 2024 when it was revived to be an annual event.

Here Jami posed with me and several other artists and friends at the 2024 show. Jami is in the green and black striped outfit.

Here are the rest of my photos from the 2024 show.

https://swt.org/events/caw-2024-0329-scrapart/

Sadly, Jami passed away in February of this year. The show this year was dedicated to her memory and included an entire wall of her art.

Here are my photos from this recent show.

https://swt.org/events/caw-recycledart-2025-0328/

Here are some of Jami’s art works that were on display.

Jami’s friend Christine posed in her colorful outfit in front of Jami’s art.

Merlie and I posed at that wall with our friends Raven (colorful outfit) and storyteller Michael Katz and his wife Deeta.

Mary Price is a long time local artist, perhaps best known for being Artist in Residence for Solstice for many years. She also was curator of the Art From Scrap Gallery for years, when that gallery existed. Here she posed with two of her recycled art pieces. The fabric fish sold immediately when the show opened.

Michael Long was a star of the show. He is famed for his dioramas. He explained that some are detailed replicas of actual places. While others are “dreams” from his own head! Here he kindly posed with his diorama of La Bamba Market, which is at the corner of Micheltorena and Bath.

Our friend and long time Solstice artist Pali posed with some of his recycled art.

Irene Ramirez is another Solstice artist, who created this elaborate dress from found materials. Including negatives found while clearing out her parents’ house. Irene posed with her husband Alex and their daughter Lulu.

Sue Van Horsen posed with one of her creations. She often uses wooden chair backs in her art. They are often quite intricately carved.

Here are more of her art works.

Kimberly Hahn posed with her abstract art made from salvaged materials. Including expired cyanotype. Also known as blueprinting material. Also, fuchsia petals and Yamamotoyama Genmai Cha Green Tea leaves. Kimberly let me know that she had been close to Jami.

Simon Kiefer posed with his wife Karenina with their typewriter exhibit. You can often see Simon at State Street events with his typewriters and/or playing piano.

Rebecca Zendejas was the quiet curator behind the scenes, creating this event. Here she posed with Mary Price and the dress created by Irene Ramirez.

Here people had created a kind of mandala of found objects. Michael Katz and Lark Batteau look on. Lark is a local singer and artist who shows up everywhere!

Below I will tag on the full text explaining this show. The event took place at what most of us call the Solstice Workshop. The former location of the Recycling Center, at the corner of Garden Street and Ortega Street. Mark your calendar for this recycled art event to recycle next March!

– Robert Bernstein
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The Recycled Show: A No-Waste Art Exhibit

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

• Jane Goodall

IN 2014 JAMI JOELLE NIELSEN approached the staff of Art From Scrap and suggested the creation of an annual exhibit of art made from recycled materials. Living in a region with a rich history of ecological and environmental activism, she was surprised that an annual recycled art exhibit didn’t already exist. She described it as an opportunity for “the artists in our community to express their passions and concerns about an environmental issue that is personal to them, using materials typically destined for the waste stream.” Although specific ‘new’ materials like hardware and adhesives were permitted, the artists were encouraged to primarily use ‘trash ‘; items that the general public would consider waste. Her vision and enthusiasm made it easy for Art From Scrap to say yes.

That year the reception for “No-Waste Earth” happened the same weekend as the Earth Day Festival and the exhibit was on display for a few weeks in the Art From Scrap gallery.

Although various challenges would prevent that show from becoming an annual event, Jami continued to be a prolific recycled materials artist; her body of work combined a reverence for nature and the human experience of It. She strove to develop powerful works that speak to social and environmental concerns, while encouraging conversation, education, equity and collaboration in an inclusive community; connecting us to each other and the broader universe.

About a decade later, Jami saw an opportunity to create the show again, this time In the building that was once a city recycling center, now transformed Into the Community Arts Workshop. She asked a dozen of her fellow local artists to create recycled works of art centered on an environmental issue of their choice. Over a dozen more volunteered; to offer interactive activities, educational materials, food & beverages and logistical support. “The Recycled Show 2024: A No-Waste Art Exhibit” was a huge success drawing hundreds of people despite a downpour with flood warnings. It now seemed plausible for It to become an annual event, and was scheduled for March 2025,

When the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Outreach Committee heard the news of Jami’s death in February, It didn’t take long for several people to offer their time, energy and skills for “The Recycled Show 2025: A No-Waste Art Exhibit” to return; In recognition of tho Impact of Jami Joelle Nielsen’s Imaginative, passionate, marvelous presence.

“Conservation Is a cause that has no end. There is no point at which we say “our work is finished.”

– Rachel Carson