THE GREEN SHOW – Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse

Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo Gallery, Epic Center – September 2011
The Epic Center Green Exhibit included a FASHION SHOW and ARTIST'S MARKET. The theme
of this event was recycle, repurpose, reuse. Artists were asked to create new work(s) based on bits and pieces
of existing materials and to work in an environmentally friendly manner – materials, techniques, themes.

As Curator of this Event, I invited five area designers to each create two garments for the FASHION SHOW.
The evening of the Art Hop these garments were worn by models who interacted with the public –
a kind of “live manikin” approach. There was also a market area set up for designers to sell related work,
and at seven o'clock, there was a performance event in the WellSpring Theater which included a dance/music
presentation and a FASHION SHOW. Live music was created for the event by FINETUNING. – Maryellen Hains

Show Statement.

Brenda Mergen, My Grandmother and Me
A quilt left unfinished by my grandmother, kept in a box and out of the light. Passed on to my mother and then to me. Pieces of fabric from too worn sheets, aprons and house dresses, cut into strips and sewn on to old flour and sugar sacks, left part way done for 90 years. Scraps of my own fabrics added in. Now in my hands they become a jacket. Re purposed, re purposed, reused, reused, re purposed, reused and recycled yet again. A project begun in the 1920's by Irene, now worn 5 generations later by her great, great granddaughter, Jaclyn. Accessories: Leena-Mergen-Head