The Art of Repurposing
Creative Kids! Come and get messy with Ben, Zara & Mars, transforming a regular food tin can, usually discarded, into something colourful, functional, and gift-worthy.
In our Art of Repurposing workshop, kids will paint and draw on a plaster surface, encasing an empty tin can. The result could be a plant pot or a container for utensils, paintbrushes, or pencils.
Kids can use various techniques and materials to create a story about themselves, their community, and their environment.
All pieces can be taken home. Participants will be encouraged to bring more tins throughout the week and watch demonstrations on how they are made. Kids can make as many as they like, and we can exhibit them at the end!
Ben Tarento developed this project in 2015 during an artist-in-residence program at an Ocean Conservation Initiative by Projects Abroad. The location was Suva, in southern Viti Levu, in the Fijian Islands. Since the region had no waste management or recycling system, we used artmaking techniques to repurpose waste food cans into functional and cultural objects.
AGE: Suitable for ages 5 to 11
SKILL LEVEL: Everyone - Suitable for a range of experience and skill. Tutors understand that there will be varying skill levels and will adapt to the needs and interests of all students.
SCHEDULE: Half Days - Monday 13 to Friday 17 January 2025 - 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
VENUE: St Mary’s Primary School
Check out the courses below that could be paired with this half-day course…
Creative Kids! Come and get messy with Ben, Zara & Mars, transforming a regular food tin can, usually discarded, into something colourful, functional, and gift-worthy.
In our Art of Repurposing workshop, kids will paint and draw on a plaster surface, encasing an empty tin can. The result could be a plant pot or a container for utensils, paintbrushes, or pencils.
Kids can use various techniques and materials to create a story about themselves, their community, and their environment.
All pieces can be taken home. Participants will be encouraged to bring more tins throughout the week and watch demonstrations on how they are made. Kids can make as many as they like, and we can exhibit them at the end!
Ben Tarento developed this project in 2015 during an artist-in-residence program at an Ocean Conservation Initiative by Projects Abroad. The location was Suva, in southern Viti Levu, in the Fijian Islands. Since the region had no waste management or recycling system, we used artmaking techniques to repurpose waste food cans into functional and cultural objects.
AGE: Suitable for ages 5 to 11
SKILL LEVEL: Everyone - Suitable for a range of experience and skill. Tutors understand that there will be varying skill levels and will adapt to the needs and interests of all students.
SCHEDULE: Half Days - Monday 13 to Friday 17 January 2025 - 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
VENUE: St Mary’s Primary School
Check out the courses below that could be paired with this half-day course…
Creative Kids! Come and get messy with Ben, Zara & Mars, transforming a regular food tin can, usually discarded, into something colourful, functional, and gift-worthy.
In our Art of Repurposing workshop, kids will paint and draw on a plaster surface, encasing an empty tin can. The result could be a plant pot or a container for utensils, paintbrushes, or pencils.
Kids can use various techniques and materials to create a story about themselves, their community, and their environment.
All pieces can be taken home. Participants will be encouraged to bring more tins throughout the week and watch demonstrations on how they are made. Kids can make as many as they like, and we can exhibit them at the end!
Ben Tarento developed this project in 2015 during an artist-in-residence program at an Ocean Conservation Initiative by Projects Abroad. The location was Suva, in southern Viti Levu, in the Fijian Islands. Since the region had no waste management or recycling system, we used artmaking techniques to repurpose waste food cans into functional and cultural objects.
AGE: Suitable for ages 5 to 11
SKILL LEVEL: Everyone - Suitable for a range of experience and skill. Tutors understand that there will be varying skill levels and will adapt to the needs and interests of all students.
SCHEDULE: Half Days - Monday 13 to Friday 17 January 2025 - 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
VENUE: St Mary’s Primary School
Check out the courses below that could be paired with this half-day course…
course info
Please read all course information below before purchasing tickets for this event.
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DAY ONE
Meet & greet for everyone
Introduce examples of the plaster vessel/object and the project in Fiji
Have some documentaries/cartoons playing on a projector to help with ideas
Plan drawings, ideas, themes, and stories on paper that wrap around the pot
Introduce different methods of working the plaster surface
Sketch and plan more designs on paper
Paint background colours onto the plaster pots
DAY TWO
More documentaries/cartoons playing on a projector to help with ideas
Start working on one or more plaster pots in a freeform style
Start working on one or more plaster pots in a freeform style
Place any finished works and ask the kids to talk about their work
DAY THREE
Demonstrate how to make plaster vessels
More documentaries/cartoons playing on a projector to help with ideas
Review and demonstrate various methods of working the plaster surface
Continue working on your projects or start new ones
DAY FOUR
Use soil and plant cuttings to make a pot plant
Additional demonstrations of how to make plaster vessels
Keep working on your vessels
Introduce the idea of setting up an exhibition on the last day
Remember to invite your friends to the exhibition!
DAY FIVE
Finish any remaining works
Kids should aim for 1-3 objects (or more)
Share the stories behind your work with the group
Start to set up the exhibition
Open the exhibition as a closing celebration of creativity!
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Please bring the following on your first day of class:
Please bring as many tin cans as you can carry - think baked bean or chopped tomatoes sized - we can always recycle the ones we don't use
Painting clothes
Any leftover/unused acrylic paint at home you'd like to donate
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No experience required.
YOUR COURSE TUTOR
Ben Tarento
Ben lives and works between the Coffs Coast, Gumbaynggirr Homeland and Melbourne/Naarm, Woiwurrung Wurundjeri Country, Victoria.
His entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish Fyreside Arts (Gumbaynggirr Homeland) and Melbourne Art Assist (Woiwurrung Wurundjeri Country). These ventures are not just about business but about maintaining art and creative culture in Australia. These organisations provide services and a platform for artists, curators, and project managers to realise their creative endeavours.
Ben’s artistic journey spans over a decade (since 2009), during which he has exhibited his thought-provoking artworks across Naarm/Melbourne and internationally in Spain, China, and Finland. His work draws hesitant inspiration from the monumental human impact on local species, cultures, microclimates, and aquatic ecosystems. His sculptures and installations serve as counter monuments to human impact and memorials to lost creatures and living systems.
Throughout his practice, Ben has used as much found material as possible, reclaiming materials such as metals and glass sourced from the local environment to communicate concepts of waste as landscape, altered terrains, fluorescing and bleaching corals, and the clearing of whole reef and forest systems. His work is a commentary on corrupt global governments and the abuse and mismanagement of People, Culture and Country.
