Art made from recycled materials such as paper, bottle caps, old sponges and used twine, will be displayed and sold at the I.D.E.A. Store’s Hatch art festival Friday.  

Hatch is the first creative-reuse art festival produced by the I.D.E.A. Store, a repurposing marketplace located in Champaign. The festival is also a fundraiser for the store where there’s a $5 suggested donation for entering the festival.

“The money that we make all goes back to the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation, and the money then gets distributed to the Champaign-Urbana public schools,” said Melissa Mitchell, an organizer on the Hatch committee and the I.D.E.A. Store’s communications coordinator.

The Hatch art festival was sponsored by Indi Go Artist Co-op, News-Gazette, Knox-Array Event Production, Lite Rock 97.5 WHMS, U-Rock 107.9 and NewsTalk 1400 WDWS-AM.

Mitchell said the main purpose of the festival is to encourage people to think creatively about what they can do with an object before they throw it away.

Each artist will use recycled materials to create different pieces of work ranging from murals to quilts to sculptures. 

This exhibition features about 25 pieces of creative-reuse art, including Laura Wennstrom’s “Security Blanket,” a large quilt made completely out of used security envelopes, and Christina McClelland’s “Touchstone,” a ring made from recycled glass, craft paper, dry pasta and spray paint.

“I am attracted to recycled materials,” said Michelle Stitzlein, the festival’s artist-in-residence. “They have a history. They have a story all on their own before they even enter my studio.”

Other artists, such as Deborah Fell, enjoy the challenge of reusing old materials to create something new. 

“I use recycled materials because I find it a challenge to give something already used a second life,” she said in an email. “It allows me to repurpose something meant for something else.”

The festival begins Friday from 5-7 p.m. with an opening reception of the art exhibition at the Indi Go Artist Co-op, 9 E. University Ave. The exhibition will remain open from March 5-17.

Hatch will continue on into Saturday, where 24 artist-vendors will sell their artwork at an all-day art fair located in the McKinley Fitness Center gymnasium, 500 W. Church St.

During this time, Stitzlein will teach her adult workshop for art teachers, art educators or any adult interested in working with recycled materials.

Participants will make a mini bottle cap mural. These caps range from soda bottle caps to laundry detergent caps.

“They will take those projects home with them, and possibly they’ll do a school project based on that technique,” she said. “Hopefully they will be able to pass it on to their students at their schools on a much larger project.”

The festival will end Sunday with a gallery talk moderated by Kelly White, executive director of 40 North. In the gallery talk, selected artists, including Stitzlein, will discuss their work and inspirations.

Stitzlein said she will focus her talk on how her work has been inspired by nature and the work of other artists from various countries who used materials that had humble origins.

Jacqui can be reached at [email protected].