First-Year Design Students Prepare for Fourth Annual CANstruction Event

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Students in last year's Leadership by Design class in the Fay Jones School of Architecture participate in the 2009 CANstruction event.

First-year students in the Leadership by Design class in the Fay Jones School of Architecture are busy preparing for the fourth annual CANstruction event, to be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12. Due to a forecast of inclement weather, the event will be held in the main gallery on the second floor of Vol Walker Hall on the University of Arkansas campus.

Students will have 30 minutes to construct sculptures from canned food they’ve collected. They’ll then donate the food to the Cooperative Emergency Outreach.

Prizes are awarded for most cans, best overall design and best use of labels.

The event is the service project for the Leadership by Design class, which prepares students in the design programs of architecture, interior design and landscape architecture for the rigorous and time-consuming education. First-year students are grouped with upper-level mentors for the semester-long course to address issues of time and stress management, strategies for balancing school and life, and opportunities to get to know others within the design disciplines.

The service project began four years ago when Judy Brittenum, associate professor of landscape architecture, wanted the students to participate in something fun and design oriented while also serving the community. After some research, Brittenum and her colleague in the course, Laura Terry, associate professor of architecture, discovered the CANstruction project was a national charity event sponsored by the Society for Design Administration.

While this student event is much smaller in scale than the national event, due to the time limit, the students have been prolific in acquiring donations. Last year, the class donated more than 4,000 canned goods, and they hope to contribute more this year. The class has partnered with Cooperative Emergency Outreach for the event this year.

“This is our fourth event, and each year has been bigger than the previous one,” Terry said. “The students have a competitive spirit, but they also realize they are making a difference in the community. In that respect, everyone wins.”

Judges for this year’s event are Jane Gearhart, wife of UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart; Jeannie Sugg, wife of UA System President B. Alan Sugg; Mandi Salov, adjunct professor of ceramics at the university; and Billy Fleming, Associate Student Government president.

Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart donated food items for this event.