A can do event raising hunger awareness and collecting food through a colossal canned food sculpture competition
ROANOKE, VA (October 25, 2016) – Canstruction, a creative and competitive event featuring massive sculptures built entirely from cans of food, is returning to southwest Virginia with an exhibition at Roanoke’s Taubman Museum of Art.
This year’s exhibit will run for two weeks, with canned food sculptures—called cansculptures—on display from Friday, Nov. 4 through Sunday, Nov. 20.
Winning cansculptures are revealed during opening night festivities, beginning at 6 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Collection bins will be placed inside the Taubman Museum throughout the entire Canstruction SWVA exhibit to accept donations of additional cans of food from the public. When the exhibit closes, cansculptures are dismantled and all cans go directly to the Feeding America Southwest Virginia food bank for distribution to people throughout our region facing hunger—just in time for the Thanksgiving season.
“The passionate energy that fuels a community-wide project like Canstruction SWVA gives people an opportunity to get involved with our mission while shining a light on the food insecurity struggles faced by so many families across this region,” said Feeding America Southwest Virginia President and CEO Pamela Irvine. “This year’s Canstruction SWVA event, held right before Thanksgiving, is a wonderful reminder to be thankful and to share with those less fortunate, and it provides much needed resources to fulfill our seasonal spike in food needs.”
In 2014, the nine teams participating in the Canstruction SWVA competition combined to use more than 32,800 pounds of food that were then donated to the food bank.
This year, six teams from across the region—including architecture, engineering, and construction firms, along with public schools and colleges—are again committing their time and talents to design and build cansculptures. Returning participants include AECOM, Roanoke County Public Schools, Roanoke City Public Schools, SFCS, and Spectrum Design, and new to this year’s competition is the Virginia Tech Myers-Lawson School of Construction
Each team is required to raise funds to purchase their cans of food, which Kroger provides at a reduced cost.
Construction rules specify that the maximum size of a cansculpture be 10 feet wide by 10 feet in length and 10 feet tall. Cans must be structurally self-supporting, and teams may not use glue to alter cans or deface labels. A local jury will determine winners in several categories, including Best Use of Labels, Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Jurors’ Favorite, and Honorable Mention. The People’s Choice winner is determined by a public vote during opening night festivities.
Canstruction exhibitied more than 300 structures in cities around the world in 2015, providing more than 600,000 cans of food to local food banks.
Canstruction SWVA thanks generous sponsors The Taubman Museum of Art, Feeding America Southwest Virginia, Kroger, WSLS 10, The Ardagh Group, Norfolk Southern, BNC Bank, Boxley, Oak Hall Cap and Gown and The Newbern Foundation for their support.
Volunteers Needed
Canstruction SWVA is seeking volunteers to serve as gallery attendants all day on Friday, Nov. 4 and all day on Saturday, Nov. 5, 12, and 19, plus the evening of Thursday, Nov. 17. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact Barb Putney.
Media Inquiries
Visit our website for more news and information about Canstruction SWVA. For interview requests and other media inquiries, contact Amanda Allen.
