Buy Art, Build A School

In Guatemala a movement is happening. A group called Hug it Forward has stepped in and is using discarded bottles to build schools in villages (trash architect Michael Reynolds would be so proud). In the last two years the organization has constructed 18 schools, allowing a classroom education to hundreds...

By Jamie Laughlin

March 29, 2012

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In Guatemala a movement is happening. A group called Hug it Forward has stepped in and is using discarded bottles to build schools in villages (trash architect Michael Reynolds would be so proud). In the last two years the organization has constructed 18 schools, allowing a classroom education to hundreds of children who previously had gone without a central meeting area. By incorporating cast-off plastics, Hug It Forward solves multiple issues at once, but it cannot expand its operation without a little financing. Leave it to our local artists to pick up the slack. This Saturday at the Green Elephant (5627 Dyer St.) a collaborative effort by the UNT Sculpture Collective and Naked Earth Arts takes shape in the form of “Art Works,” a buy-it-up-and-hang-it-on-the-wall hootenanny. Sculptures, paintings, photographs and prints will be donated by Denton's finest and biggest-hearted artists and priced to sell. Larger pieces will be peddled in a silent auction, while the smaller will be tagged and ready for purchase, with no need for bidding. They're hoping to bring in $5,000, the cost of a single classroom in a bottle school. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and cover ranges from $3 to $5.
Sat., March 31, 6 p.m., 2012

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