Kindergarten through 12^th grade students enrolled in public, charter, private, and home schools located within Hillsborough County are eligible to participate in the 11^th DooDad Repurposed Sculpture Competition. This unique competition focuses on 3-dimensional art and challenges young people to reuse unconventional art materials in response to an environmentally conscious theme. The all-volunteer DooDad Committee, part of nonprofit Tampa Regional Artists, collaborates with local organizations and generous sponsors in order to organize this annual competition. Since 2012, over 1100 sculptures have been created by over 3,350 students with over $42,000 awarded.

This year, the competition will have both online and in-person elements. All sculptures that are entered in the competition using the online link before the deadline will be included in the virtual Doodad exhibition and eligible for People’s Choice balloting. Because of available exhibition space, depending on the number of submissions, jurors may select a limited number of sculptures to displayed at the in-person exhibit during the 2025 Florida State Fair.

DOODAD: Fabric & Household Cardboard Boxes, including at least one Delivery Box

See the Doodad website for more information about fabric, sustainability, recycling and the environment.

THEME:  Water

EXHIBITION: 

Florida State Fair, February 6-17

Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, March 1 & 2

Organizing such an impactful competition requires a team of Volunteers.  The DooDad Committee is looking for volunteers to help in the following areas, among others.

Fall 2024

• Teacher and Student Outreach – The objective of the Competition is to involve as many Hillsborough County students as possible.  Outreach to Hillsborough County Public School teachers is underway.  We also need to reach out to other students:
• Private, charter, parochial school teachers
• Homeschool student teachers and parents
• Organizations such as Girl Scouts, Scouts, 4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc.
• Communication – The committee will be promoting the Competition on Social Media.  Help is needed with Social Media and also monitoring the DooDad Competition email.
• Fund-raising & Sponsorships – The Competition has a number of long time sponsors, and is always looking for additional Sponsorships.
• Organizational Outreach – As the Competition emphasizes the environment, there are many organizations with natural connections to the theme of the Competition.  We need volunteers to help with the outreach and connection to these organizations.  In the past, we have highlighted those organizations on the DooDad website and integrated them as appropriate in our programming.

Winter 2025

• Receiving and Installation – January 31 and February 1, at the Florida State Fair
• Reception – February 5
• Docents at the Florida State Fair – February 6-17
• Pick up and Transport to Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, including Installation – February 19 and February 27
• Docents at Gasparilla Festival of the Arts – March 1& 2