Rubbish 2 Runway fashion show allows students to create dresses from trash

Senior Lindsey Flowers

Naima Muminiy
Staff Writer 

    A trashion show and exhibition featuring dresses made entirely of recycled materials. This idea comes to life in Rubbish 2 Runway, a month long fashion exhibition held at the FRANK (Franklin Street Arts Collective) Gallery in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from May 10 to June 5 featuring dresses made by high school and college students. Over thirty colleges and high schools in North Carolina are represented. 

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      Mark Elliot, FRANK member and artist, created Rubbish 2 Runway as an outreach program to support the FRANK mission of supporting the art community. R2R has become the gallery’s most popular public events, attracting over three-hundred people every year. The initial two month run in 2013 attracted 3,600 people. The exhibition allows students to express their talents by taking everyday trash items and turning them into art.
      Kaitlin Balding, a junior at Holly Springs High School, participated in the Rubbish 2 Runway exhibition and shared her experiences, “Participating in the R2R show for my first time this year showed me just how much it impacts the art community. It expanded my horizons, inspired me to participate again next year and encouraged me to improve projects I’m working on now. Not only did this motivate me art wise, but it also inspired me as a whole. The community and atmosphere are amazing, encouraging me to keep my head up to get where I want to go in life through college and the college community that is quickly approaching in my future.”

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      Balding created a dress made up of used Capri Sun juice pouches sewn together. Other dresses include dresses made of old newspapers, bottle caps, and even old homework assignments. The Rubbish 2 Runway exhibition promotes environmental conscious attitudes towards the community to emphasize the importance of recycling and how you can turn any trash into treasure. The FRANK mission statement is, “The Mission of the Franklin Street Arts Collective is to support the local arts community and promote a vibrant downtown Chapel Hill through exhibits, events, programs, and educational outreach through FRANK gallery.”
      This mission statement has definitely been upheld and advocated by the talented community of artists in the Triangle area. Rubbish 2 Runway has definitely motivated students to think outside the box and explore and share their talents. 

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