Anchorage Daily News

Among the jettisoned clutter cramming the shelves at an Anchorage Salvation Army store, Cindy Curtis spotted a castoff cameo. Old-fashioned, unwanted, dull, dated and discarded.

No doubt the person who dropped it off at Sally's considered it junk. But Curtis saw possibilities.

Cleaning, removing the ugly hook-chain links, restringing the faux pearls and adding some more colorful beads turned the decrepit hunk of costume jewelry into a new and brighter reincarnation of its previous self.

The remade cameo is among the work of 70-some artists participating in the annual Transformed Treasures benefit next weekend.

The popular event has local artists -- some professional, some amateurs -- pick items from local thrift stores and alter them into something different, reinvent their design and look and even reason for being.

To use a hideous neologism currently in vogue, they "repurpose" the junk.

The finished work is then auctioned off with proceeds supporting the Salvation Army's social programs.

Not everything is as straightforward as Curtis' cameo, a project that took considerable labor (ask any beader) but emerged basically as an improved version of its original form.

Katherine Adams, for instance, took throw-away cloth in several vibrant shades and rebuilt the strips into an organized, colorful and functional rainbow rug.

Similarly, fiber artist Helga Berry pulled together an amorphous pile of rags and turned them into three fabric baskets -- bright and useful.

Some of the pieces are downright elegant. Sally Nordstrom selected a lonely looking bed headboard and footboard set.

Not much you can do with these things except make a four-poster bed, you might think, and an uncomfortable one at that.

Instead, Nordstrom whittled down the parts, reconfigured, rearranged and repainted them, added some upholstery and -- voila! -- produced a tidy and original-looking deacon's bench.

Several of the participants let whimsy guide them. Joan Cullinane painted up a pair of worn deck shoes with the Big Dipper design from Alaska's flag, then added two portraits: Gov. Sarah Palin on the left foot and, on the right, a dog -- perhaps a pit bull -- with a lipstick kiss-mark on his muzzle.

Cullinane calls the completed project "Alaska Cruise Deck Shoes" and told organizers they were "Fun to make and wear. Too bad they're not my size."

The work going on sale Saturday ranges from fanciful to functional: furniture, frames, clothing, jewelry, stand-alone art and items that defy easy categorization.

Aside from raising money for a good cause and giving local folks a chance to exercise their creativity, the show and auction serves an aesthetic function.

Each re-made piece speaks to new life, the possibilities of getting a second chance, finding new roles in the world and saving the planet from one more item destined for the landfill -- at least for a while.

The quality of the ideas and craftsmanship may vary, but for the frugal among us, there's something intrinsically beautiful about any recycled thing.

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

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