Marita and Ruby pose in front of Recycled Child (detail) by Marita Dingus

Ruby Re-Usable and Second-hand Sid journeyed up north to visit our friend and recycled art queen Marita Dingus, who was teaching one of her  mixed recycled media construction classes at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.  Marita took a lunch break to walk us over to Seattle Central Community College and show us her latest public art installation, Recycled Child.  More pics HERE

Recycled Child by Marita Dingus greets students and visitors at the Harvard Avenue ground-floor hallway of Seattle Central Community College“™s newly-renovated Edison North building

from the Washington State Arts Commission:
The artwork utilizes a combination of hand-painted elements mixed with an assemblage of found materials. Recycled Child is adjacent to the recycling program; the artist worked with staff to assemble much of the materials for the sculpture and gathered computer parts from the Information Technology department, also located in the building. Dingus states, “Recycled Child is a metaphor for the latent potential inside of ethnic minorities who are often discarded and undervalued.“

The art selection committee at Seattle Central Community College met six times over several months, first discussing broad criteria and potential sites, and then selected Dingus for the project. (The recommended criteria included “multicultural,“ “addressing occupants,“ “sustainability,“ and “unique.“) Dingus then met with the committee to discuss her preliminary concepts and, based on their feedback, returned with a finished proposal in late 2008. During fabrication, she worked with the college and architect for the renovation project to select the wall color that now serves as a backdrop for her artwork and a lighting plan.