Last fall, the middle school students combed the WMS woods and grounds for trash. They were on a dual-purpose mission to clean up our campus and identify objects that could be turned into art. After producing artwork for the Pacem in Terris exhibit in September, a classroom mural and the DAIS art exhibit this spring, the middle-schoolers have been putting the finishing touches on their recycled art pieces this month.

As middle school art teacher Lisa Surbrook explained, the students’ challenge was “trying to make things out of trash and finding art and beauty in unwanted items.”

Eighth-graders Lydia and Addie teamed up to create bugs using bottle caps, nails, bolts, beads, an old pendant and even a nutshell. A repurposed oatmeal container became the bugs’ “home.”

Seventh-grader Samantha R. used old thread spools and bottle caps to spell her initials against a painted rainbow backdrop, creating a sculpture representative of her support for the LGBT community.

Arynn and Samantha B. worked together to create a sculpture using a wooden disc, an old softball, a metal ladle and broken glass bottle pieces, while Angelica and Ella made a shadow box-inspired animal scene using a shoe box, bottle caps and jar lids. Inside their box, they placed a polar bear, which they made from a deodorant stick cap, and a snow leopard fashioned out of a lip balm cap and a plastic bottle top.

Will, Logan and Jack collaborated on the largest sculpture - a rocket ship assembled from toy car tires, a steering wheel and a basketball. They will mount their final piece on a full-size tire surrounded by painted orange wood to show the rocket blasting off.

Get a closer look at the middle-schoolers’ trash art projects, among other artwork, later this month during the middle school art exhibit, which begins May 28.