Welcome to the 8th Annual
Repurposed DooDad Sculpture Competition!
Presented by Tampa International Airport
Thank you to the teachers and parents who encouraged the ingenuity of these young people and delivered sculptures to the airport. And of course, thanks to our presenting sponsor, Tampa International Airport, and the many other sponsors and volunteers who continue to make this competition possible.
This year, we received 132 sculptures from 32 schools that involved 36 teachers and 310 students. Please read the informational panels on our homepage to learn about 2020’s repurposed DooDads, theme and guidelines.
Award results by grade category (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) will be posted soon. In the meantime, YOU can vote in the People’s Choice Awards made possible by a grant from Suncoast Credit Union. Voting closes on Sunday, March 29, 2020.
Here’s how to vote for a People’s Choice Award:
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- TEXT the Entry Code # of your favorite sculpture to 574-319-3370. (Note: This phone number is used to record votes only.)
- Submit ONE Entry Code # per text, and ONE vote per day, please.
- Shortly after sending your text, you’ll receive a return message thanking you for your vote.
Thank you to the teachers and parents who encouraged the ingenuity of these young people and delivered sculptures to the airport. And of course, thanks to our presenting sponsor, Tampa International Airport, and the many other sponsors and volunteers who continue to make this competition possible.
This year, we received 132 sculptures from 32 schools that involved 36 teachers and 310 students. Please read the informational panels on our homepage to learn about 2020’s repurposed DooDads, theme and guidelines.
Award results by grade category (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) will be posted soon. In the meantime, YOU can vote in the People’s Choice Awards made possible by a grant from Suncoast Credit Union. Voting closes on Sunday, March 29, 2020.
Here’s how to vote for a People’s Choice Award:
-
-
-
- TEXT the Entry Code # of your favorite sculpture to 574-319-3370. (Note: This phone number is used to record votes only.)
- Submit ONE Entry Code # per text, and ONE vote per day, please.
- Shortly after sending your text, you’ll receive a return message thanking you for your vote.
-
-
Elementary School Entries (Grades K – 2):
School: Lomax Magnet Elementary
Students: Painting Panthers Art Club, Panthers with Promise Art Club and other K-5 students (approximately 50 students)
Grades: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Artists’ Statement: As students thought about where these shoes can take them: the past, future and different locations around the world. they realized how much plastic was being used to wrap snack foods and the bags to carry them in. Students talked about ways they could decrease this by using reusable bags when shopping and buying large bags of snacks and splitting it up in reusable containers. Students discussed how these places they wanted to go would become cluttered with trash if over production of snack food keeps being made.
Art Teacher: Lashonda Wilburn
Elementary School Entries (Grades 3 – 5):
School: Alafia Elementary
Students: Ava James, Madelyn Porter, Raeleigh Tilson
Grade: 3
Artists’ Statement: "Western Boots" takes us to the Wild West where cacti bloom, rattlesnakes roam, and tumbleweed travels!
Art Teacher: Justin Terrill
School: Alafia Elementary
Students: Andrew Terrill, William Terrill
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: "One Small Step..." was created because Man once went into space and stepped foot on the moon. If we do not think about the Earth and do not do things like recycling and reusing objects, one day humans will have to leave our planet and look for a new home elsewhere in space.
Art Teacher: Justin Terrill
School: Alafia Elementary
Students: Kenley Holmes, Alyssa Hozven, Roselyn Miller
Grades: 4, 5
Artists’ Statement: "Follow The Yellow Brick Road" is an homage to The Wizard of Oz. Just like Dorothy in the story, you will find people (or creatures) along the way that will help you reach your Emerald Castle!
Art Teacher: Justin Terrill
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Nathan Ho, Adrian Nel, Ishaan Reddy
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: "Chipzilla" If you don't recycle plastics and you see this monster, RUN! or you will end up like this plane. Made of chip bags, this project's purpose is to make you recycle. The Chipzilla monster is coming out of the blue water and attacking the plane. "Oh! The Places You'll Go!” is represented by the plane, flying over the ocean.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Emmett Hoversten, Lila Grace Strain
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: "Oh, the Places Food Goes" We reused chip bags (food) to make “food”. The people on our shoe go from food to food like an art gallery. They are imagining all the places the food came from.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Gavin Drukteinis
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: "Fancy Garbage" This shoe is fancy and luxurious, but still made out of trash. My shoes could take me to a rich hotel, a nice house, or help me to become famous.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Aryana Infante
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: My inspiration was all the people in the world who are throwing away shoes.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Simone Grimaldi
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: "The World Outside Your Mind" was inspired by self-centered people. In this case, the bear is thinking only of himself, not nature on fire outside. Normally, a day-to-day person would not think about all of the trash destroying nature. I made this piece to show how important our green world is.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Jianlin Chen, Landon Gilbert
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: "Oh, the Places You'll Fly" Our project actually didn’t have a plan to it, we were “winging it."
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Matilda Flanagan
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: My shoe is based on reusing single-use materials.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Ava Diasti
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: My piece shows that we have two paths to take: a path where we recycle and don’t use plastic, and one where we waste tons and tons of plastic yearly. My piece brought me to understand that we can change our ways, but only if we try.
Art Teacher: Jan Hillmer
School: Claywell Elementary Gifted Program
Student: Ashley Del Pozo
Grade: 4
Artist’s Statement: "A Turtle's Dream" The turtle represents the variety of species that live in our oceans and are endangered due to the amount of waste. 75% of our waste is recyclable, but only 30% actually gets recycled. The turtle's shoes and footsteps represent the need to move away from its current home to save itself from becoming extinct. We need to be responsible and take better care of our world. If we all make an effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle, we can make a difference.
Art Teacher: Lisa Lawson
School: Claywell Elementary Gifted Program
Students: Mackenzie Bader, Victoria Cruz
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: SHOES: (Saving Habitats Of Endangered Species) We were inspired to create a sculpture utilizing plastic bags and snack wrappers to represent traveling shoes in different habitats which represent species in great danger of extinction. We can all help protect all endangered species by recycling and reusing.
Art Teacher: Lisa Lawson
School: Cypress Creek Elementary
Students: Joseph Romeo, Alex Shelton, Karl Palmer
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: Plastics are becoming an increasing environmental problem in our landfills and our oceans. By recycling we give new purpose to old waste. We wanted to show that no matter where you come from you can go anywhere your imagination will take you!
Art Teacher: Sandra Shelton
School: Gorrie Elementary
Students: Avril Carvajal Montecristo, Allison Cellitti, Avalon Hemstead, Kate Kronbach, Chloee Lau, Luke Levy, Liam Mobley, Adelaide Sansone, Rosario Terracciano
Grades: 3, 4, 5
Artists’ Statement: “Oh, the Places Inky Will Go” Inky, the octopus explorer of the sea, escaped from the aquarium and now he’s free! In the open ocean he will always be! He is now known as the Houdini! We hope you like our poem! Our group of nine artists started brainstorming ideas for the Doodad sculpture exhibit and came up with the idea of an octopus with eight shoes on his tentacles. We found and read the book, “Inky the Octopus”, by Erin Guendelsberger. The book is a real story about an octopus named Inky who escaped from an aquarium in New Zealand. Inky has been exploring the ocean ever since. We “caught” Inky to find out where his shoes took him. After the Doodad display we will release Inky by recycling the over 300 plastic bags stuffed inside of him. We would like everyone to recognize the fact that throwing away plastic like the bags and wrappers has terrible consequences to the environment. We researched the “Islands of Trash” found in different places throughout the world. The largest is in the Pacific Ocean and is bigger than Mexico now. The trash islands are so thick with floating plastics that you can walk on them. We learned so much making this sculpture! Go Inky Go!!
Art Teachers: Karen Barmore, Elaine Ramirez
School: Grady Elementary
Student: Milania Capo
Grade: 3
Artist’s Statement: To build my Laffy Air Shoe, I utilized various recycled materials such as water jug, snack wrappers, and newspaper. I used the plastic bag as a shoelace. Laffy Air Shoe is sitting on grass surrounded by bushes made out of recycled materials. I added elements of the fruits to remind us of the beautiful things earth provides. The Laffy logo represents the laughter that comes from today's generation, who will ultimately benefit from today's positive decisions. It's our responsibility to take care of the planet that we live on by reusing materials to reduce future environmental risk and leave a positive footprint. It's essential to raise awareness of all the various materials we can utilize to build our art creation and expand our knowledge along with our imagination.
Art Teacher: Debonique Grigsby
School: Grady Elementary
Students: Luci Dingle, Anabella O'Donnell
Grade: 4
Artists’ Statement: Our shoe takes us into the ocean where many plants and animals are being harmed. As you can see, on the left side of the shoe we discovered what our ocean looks like right now as we pollute. On the right side it shows what our ocean used to look like and can look like in the future. The animals are an important source of food and jobs for fishermen. We need to do our best to take care of these creatures and remember it depends on our choice to reuse and recycle.
Art Teacher: Debonique Grigsby
School: Grady Elementary
Student: Ana Gomez
Grade: 4
Artist’s Statement: My shoe is a character shoe and it will take me to Broadway. My shoe is on top of the New York theater with all the plays, operas, and ballets I’ve been in. All of the materials that I used I already had. The wrappers represent stage lights. That is how my shoe will take me to Broadway.
Art Teacher: Debonique Grigsby
School: Grady Elementary
Student: Amina Devoe
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: I never realized how much trash the United States has. In the United States, we throw away about 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Also we throw away $11.4 billion worth of recyclable containers and packaging every year. This information encouraged me to work harder to recycle. My shoes will take me all over the world to try different baking and cooking skills. My shoes were created from tape, gum wrappers, snack wrappers, and plastic bags.
Art Teacher: Debonique Grigsby
School: Grady Elementary
Students: Isabella Vertaillie, Alessandra Vertaillie
Grades: 3, 5
Artists’ Statement: We decided to do a phoenix because it is a beautiful firebird and we love its big, red wings. We were inspired to create a phoenix because our friend was a phoenix for Halloween and her costume was beautiful. We used a snack wrapper for the wings and a plastic bag the tail. We used two eggs and six flames for the nest. I hope you like our project.
Art Teacher: Debonique Grigsby
School: Homeschool
Student: Emma Ledford
Grade: 3
Artist’s Statement: The little old lady who lived in the Doodad shows us where reusing could take us. All of the things I used I would’ve thrown away. There are ways to reuse things if we just try.
Teacher: Tonya Ledford
School: Kenly Elementary
Students: Karla Arroyo Garcia, Zaniyah Price, Niyah Joseph, Sidney Saint Val, Analisia Dominguez, Alexis Analetto
Grade: 5
Artists’ Statement: This shoe was inspired by our desire to help Wounded Warriors who have lost a leg go where ever they want to go with ease. While we think it is a cool design, what makes it even cooler is that it also helps the environment by using things that normally get used once have a second use as ART. We hope you enjoy our piece.
Art Teacher: Tara Hatfield
School: McKitrick Elementary
Student: Punya Soumil Desai
Grade: 4
Artist’s Statement: After this project, I learned that you can use snack wrappers and other materials to make things out of them so they don’t make nature and other places dirty which further helped me realize how to reuse materials and make the best out of waste. Also, I can take my shoes to France because they are soccer cleats and France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This way I can also see the Eiffel Tower.
Art Teacher: Molly Arnold
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Sarai Castillo
Grade: 4
Artist’s Statement: Oh, the places I will go are NYC, London, Paris, and Milan working with designers to create beautiful works of art that can be worn from our plastic waste. They will be from Couture to sneakers, and a shoe design for everyone!
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Gladys Hernandez Gomez
Grade: 4
Artist’s Statement: Who knew snack bags and plastic bags could find such an appeal. From melting, weaving, or using it for cushioning brought such an awareness of how we need to change our mindset with the waste the enters our waters as well as our landfills. Designing shoes is only the beginning of items we could make from garbage that we need to recycle and reuse. Even when other kids saw our shoes, they wanted to make some. Where are we going in our shoes? We are going to make a difference by beginning small then growing globally.
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Micaela Gomez Mendez
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: Oh, I will go to a garden party to raise awareness and funds with artists and business people. We will be a think tank to help our global environment.
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Jocelin Castillo
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: I like to leave a little sparkle where I go. By helping increase "a-wear-ness" of waste in our land and oceans, we can create businesses that clean and recycle the plastics into shoes. Thus creating more jobs for designers and businesses.
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Jessica Hernandez Gomez
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: Oh, I will be rocking aWEARness of Reusable Waste perhaps to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and/or Taylor Swift to use in one of their music videos to help bring awareness of the amount of waste that is filling our landfills and harming life in our oceans and lakes.
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Adriana Santiz Santiz
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: My shoes will take me to the beaches to do workshops on designing shoes. While at the workshop we will explain how plastics are wreaking havoc to the water life.
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: Roland Park K-8 Magnet
Student: Alina Diaz
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: All I want to say is I didn't realize before I started this project how many candy and snack wrappers me, my family, and my friends use. This project inspired me to believe that my feet could take me anywhere, from outer space to the deep ocean floor.
Art Teacher: Genevieve Godcharles
School: Tampa Bay HEAT homeschool group
Student: Elise Kranert
Grade: 3
Artist’s Statement: My shoes can take me anywhere I wish. You can find anything you desire for art by looking around. You can use plastic bags flying around to lunch wrapper or broken buttons.
Teacher: Homeschool
School: Homeschool
Student: Ethan Green
Grade: 5
Artist’s Statement: My pilgrim shoe takes you back to Colonial America when it was just the 13 colonies. My art represents how far people go to start a new and better life.
Teacher: Cindy Green
School: Mort Elementary
Student: Liliana Hernandez
Grade: 3
Art Teacher: Lori Erskine-Dodds
School: McDonald Elementary
Students: Trent Fenske, Julian Rosas, Arely Martinez, Cloei Root, Kylee McCluskey, Joseph Maloney, James Maloney, Fabyanna Andujar, Alex Keen, Jadyn Van Name
Grades: 4, 5
Artists’ Statement: Our project emphasizes not only where a pair of shoes can take you, but where a good education can take you as well. With this project we hope to illustrate that with creativity and hard work anyone one can overcome any obstacle, take on any challenge, or achieve any goal.
Art Teacher: Jasmine Porter
School: Gorrie Elementary
Students: Nega Tsekanovskiy, Avril Carvajal-Montecristo, Avalon Hemstead, Chloee Lau, Luke Levy, Adelaide Sansone, Lola Brandon, Silvia Hellman, Chloe Jonas
Grade: 3, 4, 5
Artists’ Statement: After reading the book, "Albert Ross the Albatross: Blue Spaghetti" by Nicola Leigh and learning about the plight sea birds suffer due to plastics and garbage, we decided to create a sculpture of an albatross stuffed with plastic bags and snack wrappers as feathers. We were touched by reading the book and we wanted to spread the word to use less plastic and throw it away properly.
Art Teachers: Karen Barmore, Elaine Ramirez
Middle School Entries:
School: Academy of The Holy Names
Students: Madeleine Berg, Chloe Boback, Addison Brown, Lauren Echeverry, Regan Hernandez, Emma Kaiser, Sophia Kelly, Reese MacDonald, Rory Martineau, Kamila Muraharisetti, Lin Riser, Bryn Valiente, Isabelle Williams, Michael Xavier
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Our class was so excited for the Annual DooDad Competition! We were eager to brainstorm as a class together and were so excited to sculpt a combination of Tampa Landmarks and shoes! "Oh The Places You'll Go", in Tampa is limitless! As Tampa spreads it wings in leaps and bounds with cutting edge technology, state of the art businesses, and emerging start ups, Tampa consistently is reinventing itself and redesigning gorgeous spaces. You can go anywhere if you have the right pair of shoes on! With our walkable city, there is a million places your shoes can take you! Our display demonstrates and highlights our favorite places around Tampa Bay. We built our own plaster casts and used recycled candy wrappers and chip bags! Enjoy! Now, Go for a walk in The Top 10 Ranked Airport!
Art Teacher: Galina Abele
School: Rampello K-8 Community Partnership Magnet School
Students: Sydney Harding, Lilah Ellerman
Grade: 6
Artists’ Statement: "When Pigs Fly" represents going far and trying to make goals a reality! You never really know where your shoes will take you and what they will help you achieve, even if it's unexpected!
Art Teacher: Elizabeth Van Allen
School: Rampello K-8 Community Partnership Magnet School
Students: Deuce (Corey) Curry II, Aziah Gainers
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: "Pollution' Pollution" represents how people dump trash and waste into our oceans and how it ends up on islands. The shoe boat is travelling to the island to find solitude, but instead finds snack wrappers and plastic bags in the water. This sculpture is a hint to everyone to stop polluting so our planet will survive a few million more years.
Art Teacher: Elizabeth Van Allen
School: Rampello K-8 Downtown Partnership Magnet School
Students: Molly Smith, Zakara Wharran-Sapp
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Our shoe sculpture represents your journey through life and finding yourself. The country flags on the outside represent places to go and different things to experience, while the LGBTQ+ flags we placed on the inside of the shoe represent who you are. The combat boot/platform style of shoe was mainly chosen for looks, but also represents strength.
Art Teacher: Elizabeth Van Allen
School: Rampello K-8 Downtown Partnership Magnet School
Students: Adrian Richie, Kaylee Grooms
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Creating this sculpture showed me that everything can be used in art, for example, plastic bags and snack wrappers. We have learned the importance of 'reduce, reuse, recycle'. Our shoes represent walking to places.
Art Teacher: Elizabeth Van Allen
School: Stewart Middle Magnet
Students: Devin Aultman, Brianna Comadore, Sirianat Maldonado Rosa
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Our shoe represents a blue jet plane that can take us anywhere in the world. We learned about the importance of reusing and recycling plastic materials.
Art Teacher: Trey Goodwillie
School: Stewart Middle Magnet
Students: Danilo Vargas, Alex Perez, Nicole Pita
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: This VANS shoe represents the places we will go in life, like the ups and downs of a skateboard park! We must always think about reusing materials as we try to improve life on Planet Earth.
Art Teacher: Trey Goodwillie
School: Stewart Middle Magnet
Student: David Ojo
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: This Cat-In-The-Hat inspired shoe celebrates the magic of Dr. Seuss. It's never too late to change the world. Theodore Geisl did not become Dr. Seuss until he was 53 years old!
Art Teacher: Trey Goodwillie
School: Stewart Middle Magnet
Student: Lillianne Sopalski
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: The flowers are all growing at different paces just like how people grow at different paces. When achieving a goal you should not compare yourself to others.
Art Teacher: Trey Goodwillie
School: Benito Middle School
Students: Jazmin Walega, Aeriel Larsen, Genesee Morris, Sneha Joseph, Darlyn Jarquin, Jordan Parramore
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Our shoe is based off of the Percy Jackson series. This shoe takes the characters through their adventure. Creating this shoe has taught us that something as small as candy wrappers can be remade into something great instead of becoming waste.
Art Teacher: Cheyanne Causby
School: Stewart Middle School
Student: Christian Diaz-Leonardo
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: This shoe represents a variety of reused snack wrappers and plastic bags. It is important to recycle and reuse plastics whenever we can. We all enjoy eating the snacks, and we want to enjoy a clean Earth also!
Art Teacher: Trey Goodwillie
School: Benito Middle School
Students: Elaine Margelowsky, Noelany Garriga-Santiago, Alishba Ahmed, Krishna Mahadevia, Saaliyah Davis, Dayna
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: This is a shoe that we thought long and hard about. We are very proud of our shoe design. We have named it Niji; it's the Japanese word for rainbow. We were inspired by anime and the anime style which we thought would make it better and show our personalities. We hope you enjoy our colorful shoe.
Art Teacher: Cheyanne Causby
School: Walker Middle Magnet School
Students: Jackson Winterberg, Noelle Strawser, Allison Bradberry, Richard Ramos, Addison Brandenburg, Lucas Cunningham
Grade: 6
Artists’ Statement: “Give a Sole, Save a Soul” explains that when we donate slightly used shoes to a less fortunate person we're saving their soul just a little bit more. Also, our group of students used the plastic bags and wrappers to make the world a better place, such as saving marine life. Also, wrappers and plastic bags can be reused for many different things, rather than ending up in a landfill or around a marine animal’s neck.
Art Teacher: Trista Johnson, Jennifer Strano
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Trevor Plowmen, Jayden Powell
Grade: 6
Artists’ Statement: Recycling and reusing is not just for us, but for the Earth. Our shoe can bring you to the beautiful sight of the mountains.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Nicholas Webster, Leilani Pagan
Grade: 6
Artists’ Statement: Our awareness has increased about using recycled materials. We never would have thought to use these materials before in order to create a work of art. We chose an Alice in Wonderland theme because to get anywhere in life you must first dream and imagine where you want to go and how you're going to get there!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Student: Charlene Pratt
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: My awareness to reuse materials has highly increased. I never would have thought about using plastic bags and candy wrappers in a project! My shoes can take me to the calming and relaxing beach. This is my happy place.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Leyna Martinez, Adrian Blazquez
Grade: 6
Artists’ Statement: Our shoe will take you through the forest, up a mountain, and on a path. The adventure is thrilling and daring. Will you join the trip? Creating art made with "trash" has taken us on a journey of awareness about the amount of waste we create.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Piper Tichenor, Julian Smith
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We loved the idea of taking old shoes and creating something new out of them, and my dad had some old firefighter boots he didn't use anymore, so we decided to deconstruct one of those and see what we could create! Our original idea was to make an underwater paradise, but we wanted to create an aspect of going somewhere, so our design developed into a speed boat!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Student: Sabrina Jimenez
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: Many careless people are not aware that we throw away tons of garbage and waste every day. The trash doesn't have to be disposed of, instead it can be turned into something else, like artwork that is "out of this world!" (pun intended!) This shoe could cause someone to space out and consider instead of throwing away garbage, it can be used to create a masterpiece while saving the environment!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: David Hernandez, John Escobar
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Our project was inspire by Iron Man! We can be a hero like Iron Man and help to protect our planet by becoming more aware of how our planet is slowly dying. Our super power is to use materials that would have ended up hurting the earth to create something that inspires people to change.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Mehar Chhabra, Jonna Schaffer
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: This project taught us that you do not have to throw away trash because it can have other uses for upcycling. Your shoes can take you all over the world and and change it by doing great things!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Student: Cailleigh Samuel
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: Using plastic bags and candy wrappers have never been my go to when I'm creating art. I've never used them before in anything other than going straight to the trash! My shoe symbolizes you as a person taking on the path of life through the forest of the unknown.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: E.A.R.T.H. homeschool group
Student: John R.F. Humphreys
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: You’ll be helpful as helpful can be, Oh the beautiful beaches you’ll see! EARTH is being poisoned by all the plastics and garbage. We can collect, reduce, reuse, and recycle, much of the trash we throw out. Anyone, from young to old, should be part of this process. Picking up trash from the beach is a great place to start.
Teacher: Nicole Humphreys
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Maya Kalinowski, Luke Lamont
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: The message of our sculpture is that your shoes can take you across the globe. The possibilities are endless! It was fun learning new ways to create designs like braiding and weaving with plastic bags. We never would have thought to use plastic bags and wrappers in these ways before this project!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Elizabeth Lockridge, Chibuzo Obia
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: We became more aware of how you can use recycled materials as alternative materials in creating art. Our shoe touches more on the shadow side of ourselves and how sometimes the "shoes" we chose can take us down a darker path in life.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Michael Grant, Jason Landrem
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Due to the increase in pollution of the water, land, and animals it has come to our attention that you could say the earth is unhappy. So we felt good about using materials that would have been turned into waste to create something beautiful that celebrates our planet. Our shoe takes you on a journey and exploration of earth's wonderful landscapes!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Student: Emma Snider
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: My sculpture was inspired by the Disney movie, "Up". The balloons on my sculpture are flying the person wearing these shoes, far, far away. Using plastic bags, snack wrappers, and old shoes made me realize how much waste humans create and throw away every day. I really enjoyed looking through the snack and candy wrappers to find the letters to spell out the quote on my sculpture!
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Sophia Maston, Cameron Wong
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Plastic bags, candy wrappers, and other waste can be used to create something new instead of creating more pollution in the environment. Our shoes can take us everywhere, just like the character in the book, "Oh! The Places You'll Go".
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Carolina Franco
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: The title of my sculpture is "Sunflower Support". It is supposed to be a sunflower as the heel of the shoe and it is supporting the rest of the shoe so it doesn't fall. At first I was confused about how we were supposed to build a shoe with plastic bags and snack wrappers, and I thought it wasn't going to work. Now everything makes more sense. I used the plastic bag in a certain way so that my shoe would turn out wrinkly and it worked perfectly.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Karen Vixtha
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: My sculpture is a ballet shoe that is called "Balos" because the tangerine brand name is "Halos". So I mixed up ballet and "Halos" to make "Balos". I used complementary color scheme with an emphasis on blue. I used wire to help stand it up and shape it, then I used plastic bags to cover the wire and make it look 3-D. Then I added ribbon and blue decorations, and painted everything blue.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Leira Yero
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: "Shoe Sky" is a shoe reflecting the sky because the sky is one of the places I want to visit someday and go sky diving. I've always been aware of being able to recycle materials, but I didn't think it would be as difficult as it was trying to find snack wrappers that matched my color scheme of warm colors.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Genea Jones
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: "Sushi Shoe" represents a shoe that looks like sushi. I used plastic bags, bottle caps, newspaper, snack wrappers, felt fabric, and yarn to create my shoe sculpture.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Genesis Santillan
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: My shoe relates to the theme "Oh, the Places You'll Go" because when I think of a bunny I believe they are free. They get to hop anywhere. They seem to live a simple life. So you really don't know where a bunny can travel. I increased my awareness of the reusability of materials by using all the "Pocky" trash I had. It is really pretty and it's a shame to throw such nice packaging away. My family saves a lot of plastic bags so it was a perfect opportunity to use some of our stock. "You can steer yourself any direction you choose."
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Makyla Jones
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: My sculpture, "Green Egg and Candy", is a high heel shoe covered with different kinds of candy wrappers and a green egg on the toe of the shoe.I was surprised to learn that I could make artwork out of things I would normally consider to be garbage, like used shopping bags, and candy wrappers.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Sophia Nguyen, Kaitlyn Chan
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: A fun shoe about chewing bubble gum.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Kate Anderson, Emily Rosepapa
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We love Takis, and this shoe is all about Takis.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Blake Miller, Noah Sames
Grade: 7
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Gus Wilson, Matt Franke
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Lays potato chips are the best snack food around, but there is a lot of waste with the packaging.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Madeline Flitman, Gaby Hernandez
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: There are a lot of Starbucks and they create an enormous amount of waste. We just wanted to highlight the common disposable coffee cup.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Crane Homeschool Academy
Student: Kaylee Smith
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: Last fall I realized my ambition is to open a Cat Café with my best friend. (You can see her at the register.) I also made sure to include some of my other favorite hobbies, such as creative writing, drawing and cake decorating. We don’t really realize just how many goods we use with plastic wrappers until you see them all stored inside a bag. We just open a Reese’s and throw away the wrapper. I hope in the future that people could cut back on the single-use plastic wrappers, or make them more recyclable.
Art Teacher: Jackie Smith
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Lucia Simoes
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: This shoe is about how much junk food we eat and all the wrappers found in our recycling container.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Liam Jordan, Darius Harjas
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We both love Honey Nut Cheerios so we made a shoe about it. We also realize there is a lot of cardboard and it was nice to reuse it.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Student: Mary - Streeter Smith
Grade: 7
Artist’s Statement: I love to eat Reese's peanut butter cups and realize there is a good amount of plastic that is thrown away every time I do.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Aubrey Kolar, Elle Bonner
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We really wanted to make a boot and we both love Skittles. This project helped us realize just how much waste junk food creates.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Skylar Raynor
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: "Save the Turtles" represents all the things in the ocean that can hurt all kinds of animals, and how you can use these kinds of materials to make great new things like works of art. This project changed how I think about waste because now I know that you can make something beautiful and save something endangered by using things you might throw away.
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Heidi Kumpu, Sophia Wyant
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Who doesn't love Cape Code kettle cooked potato chips? We realize that there was a lot of waste from the packaging of chips.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Marily Diaz, Mackenzie Crerend
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: Laffy Taffy wrappers are really hard to recycle so basically they go to the landfill because you can't recycle them.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Lily Van Wyk, Ethan Stasonis
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We both live near a beach and when we walk on the beach we notice all the trash.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Paige Easton, Ella Mcilwell
Grade: 7
Artists’ Statement: We really liked the idea of using something small like Hershey Kisses to show that even with small things there is waste that needs to be dealt with.
Art Teacher: Thaddeus Erdahl
School: Homeschool
Student: Liam Green
Grade: 6
Artist’s Statement: My shoe is clean, efficient transportation that can hover, and assists customers at home by using artificial intelligence. My vending machine is the future of shopping where scans of customers' feet are used to make shoes on the spot from recycled materials. Imagine where the future of shoes can take us!
Art Teacher: Cindy Green
School: Winthrop Charter School
Students: Emily Traub, Camilla Roman, Emily Acevedo
Grade: 8
Artists’ Statement: Using trash items to make art made us think about the state of the environment and the animals on our planet. We decided to show the places the planet will continue to go if we don't start making more of an effort to clean it up. We created a shoe in the form of a dead mamma bird who has been living off eating trash. Her eggs represent the new generation that can work together to fix the problems with pollution.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Winthrop Charter School
Student: Leilani Smith
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: My project is meant to raise awareness about how much trash is ending up in our oceans and beaches. Growing up in Hawaii and now living in Florida, the beach has always been an important part of my life. I included a shoe and other trash that I actually found when I was walking on the beach. My wish is that one day our beaches will be restored to their natural beauty and free of waste and trash.
Art Teacher: Jill Maxwell
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Madison Sofarelli
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" represents The Wizard of Oz with all its characters being represented by accessories to the shoe. The ruby slipper represents Dorothy, the hay represents the Scarecrow, the tail represents the Cowardly Lion, and the heart watch represents the Tin Man. I used peanut M&M wrappers to make the yellow brick road. Through the creation of this sculpture I came to realize that anything can be used and repurposed to create a beautiful piece of artwork!
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Ferrell Girls' Preparatory Academy Middle Magnet
Student: Taliah Bannister
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: "Sneakers" is built from old Snickers wrappers, string, plastic bottle, glue, and paint. I have realized how I can reuse things to create beautiful sculptures. This relates to the competition theme because it's a shoe but figuratively means something else, which is how I came up with the name "Sneakers".
Art Teacher: Katie Sparks Jones
School: Liberty Middle School
Student: Mallory Marsland-Pettit
Grade: 8
Artist’s Statement: My sculpture is about a girl who has “walked” through the different stages of life and doesn’t know where her shoes will take her next. Through this project I began to see different items of “trash” differently. Things I once saw as garbage I now see as something to be reused instead of thoughtlessly discarded. I think I truly understand the saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Art Teacher: Lesley Wheatley
High School Entries:
H-1
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Gwyneth Baehr, Sophia Simoes
Grade: 10
Artists’ Statement: We hope when people see our shoe, they become inspired by the idea of reusing materials to create something new and innovative. Our environment is in need of finding ways to reduce one-time plastic usage.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-2
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Anna Boling, Lauren Mack, Henry Smith
Grade: 10
Artists’ Statement: In this day and age, the amount of waste we, as a human race, create is absolutely absurd. Instead of recycling that plastic water bottle, we throw it in the trash can, without giving it a second thought. If we want to watch generations to be able to enjoy our beautiful world, then we need to help preserve and take care of it. We have become numb to the destruction we are initiating and the first step to solving this is to help create awareness and re-use. Our group created this shoe almost purely out of trash to make just a little difference in how we maintain this beautiful home we call earth. In our minds, this shoe can take us to the big cities. We will walk the streets of New York and Chicago, two of the most wasteful cities we know of. In this shoes, we will show that recycling can also be fashion. Those high heels you’re wearing don’t need to be made in a factory that permits toxic gases, but instead out of that plastic wrapper you threw in the trash that morning. Recycling and reusing should be the new fashion, the new trend, and a new way to make this world even more beautiful than it already is.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-3
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Sara Coughlin, Allison Holmes
Grade: 10
Artists’ Statement: Keep your city clean.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-4
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Kendall Ker, Katrina Shonka
Grade: 10
Artists’ Statement: These boots are made for walking, but to what destination? We don't know. It's no secret that our future is bleak; however, that depends on you. Each individual is key to saving the environment.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-5
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Anvi Singh, Julianna Kaiafas, Miriam Hinds
Grade: 10
Artists’ Statement: Making this shoe increased our knowledge of how much trash is all around us and what actions we need to take to preserve the Earth. Our shoe can take us all around the city and the beach.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-6
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Carsyn Martz, Sofia Harwood
Grade: 10, 11
Artists’ Statement: While digging through the trash at our school, we were appalled by the amount of waste that high school kids throw away each day. We decided to use the nutrition facts because the point of nutrition facts is to make you more aware of what you are consuming, but they are often ignored. In all, our statement is awareness. As a community, we need to become more aware of our surroundings and what we do with our plastic waste to further the betterment of the environment in the future.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-7
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Sofia Beljic, Gabriela Caldeira
Grade: 10, 11
Artists’ Statement: We are much more aware of reusing materials because of this project because it has shown us that there is beauty in single-use materials. It has also showed us that even though plastic is dangerous in nature, it has plenty of other uses and with this knowledge we should work to reuse as much as we can! The way we use our plastic can be used to increase of range of perception of the world around us and can lead us to explore new places.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-8
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Knox Meier, Gisselle Ocana
Grade: 10, 11
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-9
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Students: Briana Orbegoso, Elle Lawson
Grade: 11, 12
Artists’ Statement: Our shoes transform you into a time of Generation X taking you into the future. Using these materials reflect on the evolution of generations and how society views children.
Art Teacher: Terrie Forester
H-11
School: Blake High School
Students: Mayra Hernandez
Grade: 11
Artists’ Statement: As I thought of the theme of the Places we will go, I immediately thought of my daily commute from Brandon to Tampa. The City of Tampa has grown into a place with iconic landmarks from the Sun Trust building to sandy beaches to the Skyway bridge. My piece showcases the everyday icons of the city of Tampa. I used candy wrappers, chip bags and other collage materials to reflect the city/county landscape.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-12
School: CHOSEN homeschool group
Students: Isabelah Griest, Stefaun Bernardin
Grade: 10, 11
Artists’ Statement: As you grow into adulthood you start to feel the pressure of life and our goal was to portray that with shoes. The small shoes represent childhood and the big, giant shoe represents the gigantic shoes that you feel need to be filled when you become an adult.
Teacher: Kimberly Johnson
H-13
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Brayan Munoz Rendon
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: It was important for me to put my creativity to use while recycling materials. In 2020, it's relevant to know that if we care about our planet, we'll go to new places we've never seen before.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-14
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Jade Lopez
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: The use of recycled materials for this sculpture was imperative. With our revolutionized society, recycling becomes more important for conserving and protecting the places we will go.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-15
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Anahi Garcia
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: Multiple plastic bags and cardboard were used.These shoes could take you to a nice simple park or anywhere that has a nice simple path that can make you happy.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-16
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Evelyn Deaton
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: To others, plastics and used materials may seem like trash and useless, but to some they are seen as an opportunity to create something new. Creating a shoe using these materials was interesting because I had to think in a whole different way.This shoe essentially shows the possibility of travel. It shows that you can go anywhere by boat or by hot air balloon.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-17
School: Blake High School
Student: Caroline Hedger
Grade: 11
Artist’s Statement: This piece honors Dr. Seuss's legacy and the joy of traveling. Plastic bags were used to replicate Dr. Seuss's color palette and the figure and balloon illustrated on the cover of the book, " Oh! The Places You'll Go!" The shoes that create a pattern below the subject represent the different walks of life.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-18
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Emily Morales
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: There are many ways to use materials on a shoe. I'm sure that we can apply recycled materials to anything. My shoe can take you anywhere and it will make your visits bright.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-19
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Luis Sostre Rosario
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: My awareness increased because I realized that all the recycled materials that I used could have ended up in the ocean, but if more people did stuff like this, it could save the planet from all the unneeded trash.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-20
School: Blake High School
Student: Mackenzie Bing
Grade: 11
Artist’s Statement: My shoes will take me to see art all over the world some day. My shoes also reminds me of the red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, so I believe these shoes could take me somewhere over the rainbow.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-21
School: Blake High School
Student: Michael Rodriquez
Grade: 11
Artist’s Statement: The theme from Dr. Seuss 's Oh, the places You'll Go! made me think about my fear of flying. It make me think about how as people, we can go anywhere we want if we really try to overcome our fears or limitations. Once we overcome that, people can do and create fantastic things.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-22
School: Blake High School
Student: Leilani Cartegena-Madriga
Grade: 11
Artist’s Statement: My "Mandarinfish" skate is mostly inspired by the color scheme of the book, "Oh! the places you'll go!" and a 70's roller skate with a twist. The swirling, free-flowing colors reminded me of wave-like motions that brings attention to the wheels and references travel.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-23
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Astrid Mendoza
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: I was inspired by a Radio Flyer wagon from my childhood and my love of the JROTC program that I am currently in. This was my first time making anything 3D, and the challenge of using recycled plastic bags and snack wrappers was exciting. I am proud of my finished project and it gives me confidence that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-24
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Anjelo Rivera
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: The repurposing of recyclable plastic goods in these sculptures can help keep many places be clean, making every destination a travel location.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-25
School: Blake High School
Student: Emily Lake
Grade: 11, 12
Artist’s Statement: I really wanted to express running as a way of traveling. You're able to enjoy the scenery around you and feel the breeze, hence the sunset colors and arrows. The blue to yellow transition also indicates the increase in speed.
Art Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
H-26
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Melany Balbin
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: I was inspired by nature, the idea of growth, and my love of orchids. I wanted to show how we evolve into beautiful individuals that can go anywhere, no matter where we come from or what material possessions we have.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan
H-27
School: Plant City High School
Student: Sydney Palm
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: I created a Croc out of yellow plastic bags and snack wrappers. I chose this shoe because I have a pair of yellow Crocs that are my favorite. Creating this sculpture was a challenge but I am so glad I stuck with it. I learned a lot about products people are dependent on that aren’t easily recycled. And I learned that it will take a lot of work and dedication to make change happen in the way we use plastics.
Art Teacher: Kiley Hingle
H-28
School: Plant City High School
Student: Joyce Chambers
Grade: 11
Artist’s Statement: I created a shoe using plastics like candy wrappers and empty chip bags. By using those materials, I reduced the amount of waste going into the environment. While doing this project, it dawned on me the amount of plastic that we use and how we don’t properly recycle some of it. I think after creating my shoe it’s so much more important to recycle and reuse materials.
Art Teacher: Kiley Hingle
H-29
School: Plant City High School
Student: Yarelis Crespo Acevedo
Grade: 10
Artist’s Statement: I created a shoe using a variety of candy wrappers and plastic bags. By incorporating these materials into my project, it increased my awareness to reuse materials. After creating my piece, I now realize more things that people see as trash can still be used to create art.
Art Teacher: Kiley Hingle
H-30
School: Jefferson High School
Student: Bella Pelaez
Grade: 12
Artist’s Statement: Oh the places you'll go... and the impact you'll have! This sculpture contains colorful mountains, as seen in the book "Oh the Places You'll Go". Below the surface of this landscape, is an ocean entirely of plastic and materials that take a toll on the environment. A pair of shoes can be seen walking into the plastic ocean, as a symbol of our carbon footprint. This bright, colorful scene contrasts against the negative nature of the materials used. In creating this piece, I was alarmed at the garbage I was able to produce in such a short time. Moving forward in 2020 I hope we opt for alternative sustainable solutions throughout the globe & take the steps to change our influence from negative to positive.
Art Teacher: Michelle Turcan