First Friday Lakeland - May

I've lived in Lakeland for twenty years and prior to this evening, I had never been to a "Downtown Lakeland First Friday". I received an email notification from the Downtown Lakeland Partnership, where I saw mention of an art display titled "One Man's Trash". Well, if you follow this or my other blog, you know I am into recycling and re-purposing items that would have otherwise gone to the landfill. Needless to say, this got my attention!
I arrived at "First Friday" at 6pm. I found the city parking garage was open to guests at no charge. (Thanks, city of Lakeland). I walked into Munn Park and found the various Public Works stations set up.

These friendly fellows from Lakeland's Engineering were asking guests some "Jeopardy" questions.The attention at the Parking System booth was pointed more toward the dog in the rolling luggabe/backpack.
There were lots of displays educating Lakelanders about how their public works 'works' for them. I couldn't get the nice lady in the photo below, but she said she travels to the schools to show the kids how the water runs off into our streams and lakes.The "One Man's Trash" exhibit was held at Arts on The Park at 115 N Kentucky Avenue. I didn't take pictures of every item on exhibit, only the ones that 'grabbed me'. I hope none of the artists will be offended if their work is not shown here. There are some very talented artists there, you should definitely stop by. This exhibit will be on display through the third week of May.

The Rat Race

I haven't figured out what the metal item is, but I did recognize headless Barbie doll bodies and a hamster wheel.

Junk Mail Bowl
The card states that this bowl is made out of "Ground Paper, Junk Mail". I stood there looking at it for a long time (no touching) trying to figure out how on earth this was made. I've already warned my family I'll be the mad scientist in the kitchen tomorrow!

Rock Garden
Now this one took me straight back to 60's/70's art! The rocks are shiny and pretty to look at, but the burlap and dried foliage, wow! What a blast from the past!

Recycle Bling
Glass bottle lids, aluminum soda cans, pull tabs, nails, aluminum netting, and a few things I just don't know! I save pull tabs to make belts that can be worn, but wow! What a dress!

Circuit Anyone?
This was interesting because I honestly just could never think of any way to use old circuit boards. Oh, I wouldn't throw them away, but I just couldn't think of a way to use them!

Bovine
This little guy caught my attention, having come from beef farm country in Michigan. I recognized the old farming disc immediately. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be a tie between this cow and the following fish:

Sorry, no title
I'm sorry, I didn't realize until I'd gotten home that the title card for this piece was obstructed by the fish's mouth. If it were my piece (and I wish I'd have thought of this!) I would title it "Oven Baked Bass" or something like that - because... This was made out of an oven rack!

I must urge you to go visit "One Man's Trash" at Arts on the Park. Their number is 863-680-2787, if you have any questions about these, or any of the other art pieces.

I must also urge you to check out "First Friday" if you've never been. It's a great thing that Downtown Lakeland Development is doing, to promote our downtown businesses. I just can't imagine Lakeland without our downtown. Here's a list of the upcoming themes.

I grabbed this shot as I was leaving, of a musician entertaining the guests: