SATURDAY SOCIAL: RECYCLED CAN ART WITH MARILYN

Saturday, Apr. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m., the Southeast Missouri Arts Council invites you to attend a Saturday Social featuring Sikeston artist Marilyn Schwaninger, who is known for her relief sculptures that utilize aluminum from discarded beverage cans.

Schwaninger got her start as an artist after studying art at Southeast Missouri State University. Although she has worked with pastels, oil, acrylic and watercolors, her passion now lies in creating low-relief sculptural pieces from recycled cans. Marilyn says of her pieces, "Each [piece] is an original design requiring many hours of collecting cans, sorting by color, washing cans, and then cutting and gluing shapes onto a backing." After this, the art is matted and framed in a shadow box to maintain the 3-dimensional effect. Upon completion of a project, Marilyn contributes the leftover aluminum scraps to civic organizations for their fund-raising efforts. Schwaninger's motto, which she incorporates into every piece, is: "I can, you can, we all can, recycle!"

During the Saturday Social, Marilyn will demonstrate how she prepares, cuts, and glues the cans to create her signature pieces. She will also be available to answer any questions aspiring 'can artists' might have about the process.

This Saturday Social is hosted in conjunction with the 10th Annual Visual Arts Cooperative Show, and the Arts Council highly encourages all ages to attend.

Come join other arts patrons and supporters in welcoming 'can artist' Marilyn Schwaninger Saturday, Apr. 14, at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, located at 32 North Main Street in Cape Girardeau, MO. The gallery is also open Tuesday- Saturday, from 10am to 4pm.