Beginning in September, your trash is going to get a second chance. Art Studio owner Susan C. Harris, along with her students, will be collecting recycled metals and found objects collected from Maplewood’s Department of Public Works for an art installation project.

On the second Saturday of each month during the Department of Public Works bulk drop off, a bin labeled "Art Studio" will be available for contributions. Harris is looking for flat machine parts, gears, sprockets, winding springs, pot lids, large shallow frying pans, bake ware, cookie sheets, pizza trays, roasting pans and more—a full list will be on the bin.

The  installation will be attached to the approximately 100-foot chain link fence that surrounds the public works facility. To accompany the project, the Art Studio is developing a fall curriculum that will include various explore artists from the Works Progress Administration, Social Realism, and current outdoor installation art made from trash. They hope to show that art not just a commodity; that it can communicate an important message as well as bring different kinds of people together for a common good.

In creating the installation, Art Studio hopes to celebrate the green efforts of Maplewood, the Jitney, the police station and the ability to get around town without a car. The project will also reaffirm Maplewood’s commitment to the arts and artists who make up a large part of the community.

Harris is currently collecting materials, and shared pictures of some of the objects she had gathered so far with Patch.