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By Mechan 11: The Collector was installed in North Camden s Cramer Hill Neighborhood. The heart for the 15-foot-tall robot was designed by a Camden high school student and then fabricated by Tyler Fuqua Creations. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The City of Camden spends more than $4 million a year cleaning up after illegal dumpers.
Some are so bold, they’ve carved out specific dumping grounds. There’s a place where mountains of old Christmas trees pile up. Other places have tons of kitchen and bathroom appliances or accumulate debris from housing construction and other garbage sources.
Camdenites have been fed up for a while. They see it as a combination of greed from the haulers that send their trash there and a form of urban insult.
Earth Day 2021: N.J. city fights illegal dumping with epic recycled outdoor art display.
Updated 6:56 AM;
A series of environmentally-conscious public art displays officially open Thursday on Camden, timed to coincide with Earth Day 2021.
Instillations include a giant black cat made of recycled car hoods, a turntable created with plastic bottles and face masks and a 17-foot-tall robot with a heart that beats for his planet.
Those and more are available to peruse throughout various Camden neighborhoods starting today after a year-long delay due to COVID-19.
The artwork, which is made from recycled materials, looks to spotlight the issue of illegal dumping. It’s a problem that costs taxpayers in the Camden County municipality more than $4 million a year, according to the city.
A New View preview: A look at large art installations in Camden
CAMDEN Commuters look out the windows as the PATCO Hi-Speedline trains rumble past a dead-end lot on Pershing Street in Camden s Whitman Park neighborhood. Usually, there s not much to see: Lines of rowhouses. One or two abandoned, boarded-up properties. A few cars. Some trash, dumped illegally. A giant black panther.
Wait.
It was. It is. Invincible Cat, by husband-and-wife artists Don Kennell and Lisa Adler, is 15,000 pounds of what used to be car hoods (56 of them, to be exact). And it s keeping watch on this vacant lot tucked inside a neighborhood along the Hi-Speedline not only to entertain riders, but also to call attention to a serious problem plaguing the City of Camden: illegal dumping and pollution.
Portland Winter Light (non)Festival returns with pandemic plans in place
Updated Feb 06, 2021;
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festival.
The sixth annual Portland Winter Light (non)Festival returns Friday evening in a format modified for these pandemic times.
Instead of a cluster of illuminated art displays at OMSI and along the Eastbank Esplanade, the 2021 event will be spread out across greater Portland and take place over two weekends. Though past events have focused on interactive, hands-on exhibits and installations, many of this year’s pop-up light displays will be viewable in storefronts, behind glass or even from the streets outside private homes.
“This past year has demonstrated that we all need art, connection and community more than ever,” the event’s executive director Alisha Sullivan said in a press release. “When we approached local businesses, organizations and artists about moving ahead with this year’s experience, we weren’t sure what the response would be – b
In 2021, the
completely freeÂ
event will be the first in-person event to tiptoe back, a hopeful sign for the days and months ahead, even if this yearâs version wonât look much like its predecessors.Â
For starters, this yearâs eventâwhich
kicks off this coming Friday and Saturday
 from 6 to 10 p.m. and repeats on February 12â13, wonât be clustered around the Eastbank Esplanade and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. That area has traditionally been at its heart, resulting in molasses-slow, bundled-up crowds oohing and aahing at the often-interactive light installations positioned every few feet.Â
Instead, says Alisha Sullivan, the festivalâs director,