The Beer Can House actualmente está abierto los sábados y domingos de 12 a 5 p. m.
The Beer Can House actualmente está abierto los sábados y domingos de 12 a 5 p. m.
FOUND OBJECT SCULPTURE PROJECT & COMPETITION
Submission Deadline December 1, 2026
WIN UP TO
$1,000!!
On View at Orange Show World HQ: January 9 – 17, 2027
✸ PRIZES
What is Found Object Sculpture?
Found object sculpture is made by connecting disparate three-dimensional elements and media, including everyday items and unusual things found by happenstance. The Orange Show monument is made from found objects, as is the Beer Can House, the artwork in Smither Park, and many of the art cars seen in the annual Art Car Parade.
Salvador Dali, Lobster Telephone (1936)
Lonnie Holley, Waterline (2020)
Jeff McKissack, The Orange Show (1956-1979)
John Milkovisch, Beer Can House (1960's)
Participants
The Orange Show Center invites high school students from throughout the greater Houston/Galveston region to enter our second annual Found Art Sculpture Competition. Selected entries will be invited to show their work at The Orange Show World HQ for two weekends in January, with winners and prizes announced on January 17, 2027.
GuidElines
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Only Houston/Galveston area high school students are eligible to participate.
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Entrants must transport their work to the Orange Show Center on January 7 - 8 and must retrieve their work at the end of the event on January 17.
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No illegal substances or dangerous items may be incorporated into the piece.
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Students may apply individually or as a group.
PRIZES
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Ten $250 Teacher Awards!
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Three 1st place $1,000 prizes!
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Ten 2nd places $500 prizes!
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25 Honorable mentions $100 prizes!
Winners will be determined by a jury selected by
The Orange Show.
Inspiration
George Herms, Tarzan Feathers Forklift, 1986, 13 x 22.5 x 10.75 inches Courtesy of Moran Moran
GEORGE HERMS
A self-trained California artist and poet once described as the “missing link” between the 1950s beatniks and ‘60s hippies, George Herms (1935-2026) is known for the assemblages he made from debris recovered from vacant lots and trash piles: rusty tools, broken ironing boards and lawnmowers, crumpled posters, and water stained books have all turned up in Herms’ sculptures over the years. Herms has stated that “any object, even a mundane cast-off, could be of great interest when contextualized properly,” imbuing ordinary inanimate objects with humor, pathos, and meaning. Herms’ work stands in contrast to both the featureless minimalism and accelerated consumer culture that prevailed in the mid-20th century, recognizing the humanity that’s absorbed by the items we use in our everyday lives and then casually toss away.
BETYE SAAR
Born in 1926, Los Angeles-based Betye Saar started her adult life as a social worker and began making the assemblage sculptures for which she’s best known in the late 1960s. Saar’s sculptures addressed issues of spirituality, feminism, and Black identity through the careful arrangement of family memorabilia, natural materials, and, notably, commercial artifacts recovered
from attics and flea markets that once reinforced negative cultural stereotypes, but through the artist’s talent for adaptation and visual storytelling, have been transformed into symbols of reclaimed power.
Betye Saar, Window of Ancient Sirens, 1979, Paper, paint, feathers, and found objects on wood, 14 3/4 × 24 3/4 in. (37.5 × 62.9 cm), The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Wynn and Sally Kramarsky, New York, 1982.6.1
WATCH:
"Assemblage"
The Museum of Contemporary Art
2026 WINNERS
Judges:
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Erin Dorn, Seven Sisters Gallery
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Jonathan Paul Jackson, artist and curator
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Sharon Kopriva, artist
Ten Second Place Winners - $500 each
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“My Mind is a Garden,” Abby Curiel, Harmony School, Ceara Colvin
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“Devour,” Ella Fortunov, Kinder HSPVA, Vicki Fowler
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“The Falling of the One You Love,” Dayanera Fuller, Conroe High School, Melanie Stinson
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“Rising Above Darkness,” Celia Maldonado, Houston Math Science & Technology Ctr HS, Kerrianne Clabaugh
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“Three Bayous”, Topher McCord, St. John’s School, Dan Havel
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“Sparrow,” Ana Ramirez, Harmony School, Ceara Colvin
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“Bird Bot,” Camden Stark and Caden Provo, Grand Oaks HS, Charlene Ingle
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“Evil Chud” Briar Suire – Madison Kamen – Avril Lopez, Grand Oaks HS, Charlene Ingle
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“Storm’s Embrace,” Alejandro Vallejo, Northside HS, Anna Bass
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“Cart Full of Chaos,” Lilly Whitely, Kinder HSPVA, Vicki Flowler
Three First Place winners - $1000 each
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“The First Being,” Teivian Brown, Westbury High School, Wendy Bajarno
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“Teddy Vision”, Benjamin Jackson Jr., Harmony School of Ingenuity, Ceara Colvin
Grand prize winner - $1500:
“Furr the Fox”
RUBY BENEDIT; ERICK HERNANDEZ; JELANI JONES; MARIANA LOREDO; MICHAEL NUNEZ; ALISON ORELLANA; CALEB PEREIRA; JUSTICE TURNER; JUDD VILLANUEVA
12th grade | Furr High School
Teacher: James Hughes
