Last year I visited a deconstruction and salvage team from Milwaukee Habitat for Humantity’s ReStore that was working to recycle building materials for future use and to prevent them ending up in area landfills.
You can read all about that eye-opening experience here.
In the meantime, Jake Brandt, marketing and communications manager for Milwaukee Habitat dropped me a line today to tell me about ReStore’s eighth annual Recycled Art Contest, which runs later this month, to coincide with Earth Day, which is April 22.
An entry by. C. Kai Marquardt
"The contest challenges community members to create works of art or repurpose items using second hand materials purchased at ReStore," he said. "The Recycled Art Contest collection will be featured in the Historic Third Ward’s Gallery Night & Day on April 21 and 22 at Habitat ReStore East, 420 S. 1st St., in Walker’s Point.
Selling donated and salvaged items, including furniture, appliances, cabinetry and a wide range of building materials and architectural details and other items, ReStore helped take in more than $335,000 for Milwaukee Habitat last year.
Chairs by Biker Jym.
That’s great news.
If you want to check out the art, the gallery is open beginning April 14.
You can learn more about Habitat, its 33 years of work in Milwaukee so far, the contest and more at visit milwaukeehabitat.org. Gallery Night details are here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
