April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 56

Park Bench
Artist Stephanie Hongo,
known as Sugarfox,
creates intricate and
detailed sculptures of
animals from trash and
recyclables.
From Trash to Treasured Public Art
When park and recreation professionals envision conservation efforts, resource protection and waste management, it's not often
they picture a 300-square-foot mural installation bursting with color and depicting wildlife.
In Connecticut, City of Bristol's Department of Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services (BPRYCS) is re-inventing
what it means to recycle through a dynamic cross-department partnership to create a three-dimensional trash art mural.
Addressing trash and material waste production in Bristol begins at the Transfer Station. Regardless of the item discarded, how
it's transported, or where it's disposed of, it ends up at the Transfer Station to be sorted, compacted and sent to its final destination.
Having visibly removed items from the Transfer Station in the past to be used for birdhouses and little libraries, BPRYCS recognizes the importance
of visibly removing items from the local waste stream as a valuable way of reducing the perceived difficulty of recycling by the public.
Buoyed by previous success, BPRYCS turned to the Transfer Station once more to turn waste management into art with the help
of a local sculptor.
Artist Stephanie Hongo, known as Sugarfox, creates intricate and detailed sculptures of animals from trash and recyclables. Starting
out as an artist, Hongo had little money for materials and struggled with the amount of " waste in the world, " so naturally, trash
sculpting, as she calls it, became her new medium.
In 2020, BPRYCS commissioned Hongo to create a piece spanning more than 30 feet that used materials recovered directly from the city's
Transfer Station. Hongo presented a plan to install more than 20 sculptures, ranging in size from an eight-foot-long octopus to a 12-inch fish.
With a plan in place, the BPRYCS team and Hongo went to the Transfer Station and collected items for the mural, including
children's toys, building materials, tubing, cookware, containers, rope and more. The myriad items were made from an array of
materials, ranging from metal, rubber and wood to cardboard and plastic.
Upon reclaiming hundreds of items from the Transfer Station, Hongo created a three-dimensional mural installation of 22 animals
sculpted exclusively from re-purposed materials that can be interpreted across all ages and demographics.
The mural is located at the entrance to the community pool, shining a light on the local waste stream and the incredible distance
that waste can travel when improperly disposed of or produced in large quantities.
One year following the installation and ribbon cutting of this public art piece, people can still see Hongo's vision that gave a
second life to thousands of discarded and forgotten items. In addition to beautifying the space, this project has educated and
challenged the way the Bristol residents view recycling.
- Erica Benoit is Community Engagement Coordinator at City of Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services
56 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANE NORTON

April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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