Art from Trash After Hurricanes and Tornadoes

After natural disasters, there are piles of trash as people clean out their ruined homes and possessions. Some artists transform those discarded items into art. This podcast was inspired by the story of Armando Heredia, who traveled to Texas after Hurricane Harvey to make art from discarded materials to raise money for those affected. Check out the items Armando made from hurricane trash at his Kuttlefish store. After learning about Armando, I found there have been artists after many storms who have made art to raise money for their communities. Learn more about how these artists turn crisis into creativity.

You can listen to this podcast about art made from trash after natural disasters in this YouTube video. It originally aired in October 2017.

See how Armando sorts through the trash to find items suitable for making art. He has to be careful to choose only non-porous items that have not absorbed contaminated water.

Check out Trashmagination’s Pinterest board featuring artists who made art from trash after natural disasters.

Artists Mentioned in this Podcast

Joplin artists

After a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, artists took debris and made pieces for a fundraiser that collected more than $20,000.

Roddy Wildeman – Hurricane Sandy

After the hurricane, he made commemorative pieces for people from the wood in their homes called “Composite Memory Fine Art.”

Laura Petrovich-Cheney – Hurricane Sandy

This sculptor calls her work “Salvaged Wood Quilts” because they look like traditional quilt designs made from wood.

Takashi Kobayashi – 2011 Tsunami

After the Japanese tsunami in 2011, he was worried about the children in the Sendai region. He made a magnificent tree house dedicated to the children who survived the tsunami to bring them joy. He didn’t make the tree house from debris, but I think this is a great example of how a natural disaster can cause an artist to bring even more meaning to the work.