Trashion Show

Artist Amy Bauer and The Jewel Box Children’s Theater Company present a free “Trashion Show” on June 9, 2024 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim Street in Long Beach. Doors open at 6:30pm.  The show is a culmination of their months long series of free local workshops for transforming discarded materials into wearable art. Reminiscent of Project Runway’s popular “Unconventional Materials Challenge”, these local workshops inspired participants of all ages to expand their awareness of how we interact with our environment and the materials that populate our lives. Bauer’s “refuse to reuse” working sessions invited participants to explore the budding designer within- converting clean discarded materials into unique wearable art.

Everyone interested in attending the resulting fun and inspiring “Trashion Show” can register for free at Eventbrite HERE. (or go to EventBrite and search for Trashion Show)

Bauer and her partner organization Jewel Box Children’s Theater are among the 35 pairs of artists/organizations selected for the current California Creative Corps pilot grant program in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The new program is funded by the California Arts Council and administered by The Arts Council for Long Beach.  The selected year-long projects, including Bauer’s “Trashion Show “and workshops, are crafted to reflect the hearts of the diverse communities they serve, raising awareness of issues that directly impact residents, and increasing civic engagement. Eligible projects address conservation, climate mitigation, social justice, and more. For Bauer, a longtime advocate for sustainability and climate awareness, this program marries her love of community and arts engagement with responsible and fun ways to expand our point of view about important contemporary issues.

Bauer’s artwork is meant to provoke thought about everyday items. “Trashion Show” challenges fledgling designers to rethink the traditional perspective of trash, finding new ways to use, reuse, and repurpose otherwise discarded materials. According to Bauer, “If seen as a resource, whole ways of thinking can be turned upside down.” Her work explores environmental themes, and ties them into an investigation of the likenesses and frictions between urban life and her folk-art aesthetic. It references communal history when handcrafts were precious and wringed of every use throughout their existence-such as a worn dress that became an apron before ended up in a quilt or braided rug.  Reuse has a tradition of creativity. It encourages the ability to reimagine the future with a multitude of environmental benefits, including reducing the amount of trash that is thrown into landfills each year, reducing the need to use new or raw materials to produce goods which reduces air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and often conserves resources worldwide. In addition to social and economic benefits, creative reusing has personal benefits as well.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” --- Albert Einstein, Physicist

Bauer is an accomplished artist, educator, seamstress, and curator with degrees in Design, Fine Arts, and Educational Technology. She is also formally trained in integrating arts activism and advocacy in her practice. She has been exhibited throughout North America and England and her work can be viewed at amybauerdesigns.com. Her work has been displayed in magazines, newspapers, private and public collections, and featured on multiple websites. She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards for her works. Bauer has taught workshops across the United States as well as internationally. She teaches art at community and private events as well as for reDiscover Center, where she also served as Director of Operations.