By Pam Hersh
Princeton University’s Creative Director Laurel Cantor talks trash with panache and passion., The creative idea she has “thrown out” to Princeton’s town and gown communities promotes trash as a treasure that leads to a vibrant and collaborative society., Trash, according to Laurel, is a tool for not only building aesthetically pleasing pieces of art, but also building community. The process of individuals leaving their various screens, and diving into the nooks and crannies and garbage cans of their homes and neighborhoods in search for arts materials encourages people to talk, laugh, and bond., Her philosophy will be on display at Communiversity ArtsFest, April 30, on the lawn in front of Nassau Hall, where Laurel — thanks to support from the Princeton University Office of Community and Regional Affairs, the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Communications — will preside over Trash ARTStravaganza, a trash art exhibit and contest., She recently circulated information about the contest via via email, social media, and posters (which soon will become art-usable trash). Information includes how to register, deadlines, categories, and suggested materials suitable for making trash art., Artists of any age are invited to submit 2-D or 3-D art with a sustainability theme and/or made with repurposed materials. For information, go to community.princeton.edu., “People must start planning, and collecting, right now,” Laurel says. “The key to great trash art is great trash and it takes time to accumulate the trash that will best serve your creative vision.”, The trash art store is filled with abundant supplies, and is renewed continually throughout the year. The Trash Art website notes that humans make “1.6 billion tons of trash per day — and that is just in the United States.”, The trash list includes just about anything that one could preface with the adjectives “old and used.” Fortunately, Pam Hersh appeared no place on this year’s list. I do own, however, a piece of jewelry made out of things on that list: Styrofoam packing peanuts and plastic twisties. My granddaughter is the creative artist of my heirloom bracelet, and I am urging her to enter it in the contest. I doubt she would win the $500 grand prize for best in the show, but her creation might merit a goodie bag of sustainably themed items., The contest, in its sixth year, was conceived as a way to celebrate Princeton University’s Office of Sustainability. Laurel’s co-curator of the event for most of the past six years has been Tori Covert, a communications professional and graduate of Princeton High School and The College of New Jersey., “The response from both university- and non-university-affiliated individuals clearly indicated to Tori and me that the value of the contest was a way to solidify and enhance and make ‘sustainable’ the connection between the university and the town,” Laurel said., Laurel is renowned in the town and gown communities for her imaginative work products that reflect her intuitive knack for capturing just the right tone for her client, whether it be a Princeton University department or one of several community non-profits for which she has done pro-bono work., With graduate and undergraduate degrees in English, studio art and education, she has worked for nearly 30 years for Princeton University as a publications editor, designer, publications director, art director and most currently creative director. In her various roles, she has had the joy of creating posters, graphic identity logos, books, note cards (featuring all 40 tigers on campus), banners — including one that went into a space shuttle — and a lot of ceremonial gifts., For the Princeton University Martin Luther King Journey Award, she designed the gift, a gold watch on whose face the numbers were replaced by words/concepts in MLK’s I have a dream speech, such as “love,” “strength,” “courage,” “compassion.”, More significantly, however, she designed the special gift print, a Martin Luther King portrait comprising all the words of his “Dream” speech. She used the same portrait technique for a celebration of the life of Princeton University graduate alumnus Alan Turing, dubbed “ the father of computer science.” His portrait comprised the words from the first two pages of Alan Turing’s Princeton Master’s Thesis. Laurel’s artwork was used for the Centennial Celebration logo and later it became a book cover for Princeton University Press’ reissuing of the Turing thesis., “It is the creative process that is so fascinating to me,” Laurel says. “Every piece of art, trash or otherwise, has a story — the inspiration for the theme, what the artwork symbolizes, the list of materials, how and where the materials were collected, the process of assembly. The art is a wonderful form of communications.”, And in my case, it is an intergenerational form of communication. My grandkids actually have been talking to me about trash, rather than playing games on their tablets. I have been ordered to save all “bright and shiny pink” wrappers from Orbit sugar-free bubble gum wrappers., Tune in April 30 to see how the story of the pink gum-wrapper trash plays out.
