Upcycled Art: Taking the Old and Making It New

It’s officially springtime, which means it’s probably time to give your house a deep spring cleaning! What if, instead of throwing your junk away, you could turn it into beautiful art? This is the idea behind “upcycled art” and it is personally one of our favorite ways to take someone else’s trash (even if it’s our own) and turn it into treasure! Upcycled art is a special thing here at Yucandu—we love taking things we find and providing them as materials for unique pieces of art only our guests can create. All it takes is a little imagination and seeing potential in the unexpected. If you’re getting ready to clean out your house and are hesitant to throw things away, it’s time to give upcycled art a try. Here are a few ways you can try upcycled art for yourself.

Get Inspired

When it comes to trying a new project, there’s no better way to get inspired than by looking to the greats. “Found object” artists like the legendary Louise Nevelson, who we’ve featured before during our After School Art Club, is a perfect way to get inspired by found object art. Nevelson, for example, was a truly great artist who took seemingly ordinary objects like scrap wood and shoeshine boxes and assembled them into impressive works of art.

Whenever we’re at art fairs or perusing Pinterest, we find ourselves drawn to the upcycled art because we love to see how the artist’s creativity takes the old and makes it new. Use other works of art as inspiration for your own—or go off into unchartered territory. If it doesn’t work, you won’t have wasted a thing.

Surprise Yourself

One of the main reasons we love upcycled art so much is the surprise factor. It’s that initial— ‘Wow, I never would have thought of that!’ or ‘Whoa, wouldn’t that look cool as X?’ When we visit estate sales, we immediately head to the basement or garage to explore all the weird things no one wants—it’s there that we see so many possibilities. 

To the left are two upcycled sculptures we created as examples for this year’s camp project for Grades 6th-12th. Can you recognize some of the objects in these figure sculptures? Paint brushes, typewriter parts, vintage children’s blocks, an old poker chip (we stamped a face on it), gears, a clock hand for a tail…the possibilities are endless. This was SO FUN to  make!

Stay Organized

Perhaps the reason you haven’t thrown anything out in the first place is because you’ve been saving an object for its perfect purpose. If you’re diving into upcycled art, it’s important to stay fairly organized, otherwise you’ll spend way too much time hunting for that thing you think you have…somewhere. Keep a designated bin or closet where you can keep your “found” materials safe and sound for when you get inspired for your next project.

Upcycled Art for Kids

Upcycled art is a great way to challenge kids to use their imaginations. This year’s Summer Art Camp for grades 6-12th features three challenging projects, one of which is a found object sculpture (see pic above). They bring dinner the first three nights and we go out to a local restaurant as a group on the last evening (Yucandu’s treat). It’s one of our favorite camps— we’ve been doing it for 13 years! The Summer Camp sessions are June 27-30 or July 25-28, Mon-Thurs from 5-9 pm. Sign up today!

The beauty of upcycled art is not just keeping things from going into the garbage—it’s the triumph you’ll feel when you come up with something truly unique using your own creativity.