Canstruction mixes talent, fun for a good cause

Ten local teams are taking place in an innovative competition to help in the fight against hunger.

Hosted until April 6 at the Weston Art Gallery, Canstruction brings together designers, architects, construction and engineering teams to build massive sculptures entirely out of canned goods.

When the exhibit concludes, the structures will be disassembled and the canned goods donated to the FreeStore FoodBank.

One entry from local design firm FRCH Design Worldwide, psyCANdelic, represents a nostalgic era in popular culture by utilizing the image of a lava lamp.

The sculpture comes complete with corn and green beans shag carpeting, a sardines silver base, and bottles of Fiji water.

According to FRCH marketing specialist and team member LeAnne Carter, the design presented a few challenges.

"We were nervous about our usage of water," she says.  "This had never been attempted by any of the firms that we had seen in the past, so we actually had a pre-build for the water portion in our basement at the office to make sure it would hold."

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration, Canstruction competitions are held in over 100 cities in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

This is the eleventh year for the event locally.

Carter says that it's a creative way to address a serious issue.

"This event also pairs up with a food drive, but this portion of it is obviously more creative than tossing cans into a barrel," she says.  "For Canstruction, teams would make a barrel out of cans!"

Admission to the exhibit is free, though the donation of canned goods is encouraged.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: LeAnne Carter, marketing specialist, FRCH Design Worldwide; Kevin Dugan, director of marketing communications, FRCH Design Worldwide

Photography by Scott Beseler