“Salvage Stories | Seven Sculptors” closes with a reception for the artists and a special musical performance by Ken Butler at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts on Sunday, September 14, 2025 from 3:00 – 5:00 PM.

ABOUT SALVAGE STORIES | Seven Sculptors:
In the exhibition, Salvage Stories, seven sculptors, Eric Banks, Ken Butler, Carol Diamond, Bonny Leibowitz, Shari Mendelson, Shivani Patel, and Mark Van Wagner, transform the mundane trash of contemporary society into sculpture that ranges from emotional resonance to historical allusion, grounded earthiness, and musical innuendo. Though their decision to repurpose discarded detritus connects to the environmental movements of our time, more significantly, these seven artists have chosen upcycled materials because of the compelling textures, colors, and indeed also mystique of the items’ utilitarian origins. This show is an exhibition of contrasts between the “high” and “low” of society’s creations, the destruction of consumerism and the discoveries of art, the ugly and the beautiful, the serious and the playful. With skillful twists of form, manipulation of abstraction, and subtle – and sometimes even quite direct – references to the figure, these sculptors bring the long-forgotten stories of human refuse into the poignant personal stories of the artist, and in the process, turn the ashes of our manmade world into poignant works of art. Curated by Alice Zinnes and Carol Diamond.

ABOUT KEN BUTLER:
Ken Butler is a musician-artist. Recombining disassociated found objects, he constructs – and often performs on innovative musical instruments, transforming our useless waste into objects of whimsy, joy, and rhythmic musicality.