Signs of the (Green) Times

Once Destined for Dump, Street and Traffic Signs
in Disrepair Upcycled by Savannah Artists

What do you think of when you see a stop sign? Stop, of course. What runs through your mind when you pass a speed limit sign? I better slow down. Such signs are intended to force instinctive reaction, with little or no conscious thought. Beyond the instructions they provide us as drivers, street and traffic signs are not exactly fodder for much musing. Unless you’re Miriam and Jacob Hodesh.

Miriam, who her husband says has always been “fascinated by signs,” began wondering one day what happened to ones that had been replaced due to damage, graffiti (remember all those with the word “Bush” spray-painted beneath “STOP”) or loss of reflectivity.

Residents of Savannah, Ga., for about two years, the couple is the embodiment of the old adage, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In 2008, they formed Refuel Savannah, collecting Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) from area restaurants and converting it into fuel for diesel vehicles, including the City of Savannah’s fleet.

With a working relationship with the city government, Miriam discovered the place where street signs go to die. Despite indications that the unusable aluminum would be recycled, she still worried the damaged signs would more likely end up in a landfill. But she had an idea that would ease those concerns: Upcycle, with a little help from their creative friends.

“Jacob and I both have a passion for looking at our environment in a new and different way,” Miriam said. “I’m a scavenger by nature, and I love uncovering treasure.”

So they pitched city officials a proposal that would take the signs off their hands, and soon, after collecting and storing for about six months, some 200 street signs—many familiar, others less so—filled their garage and side-yard.

“The garage got pretty full,” Jake said.

Jake and Miriam—well connected within the creative community through their other company, New Moon of Savannah (host of the monthly, ever-popular Savannah Market Bazaar)—invited about 40 artists over to scour through the potential “canvases” and “raw materials.” A diverse group artists, which included painters, sculptors, graphic designers, jewelry designers, welders, and mechanics, pulled names from the proverbial hat, each getting his or her pick of the litter.

There was only one instruction: “Do anything you want!”

The results of that directive were on full display Tuesday evening at the 312 West Broughton Street gallery. Attendees filled the space and enjoyed a broad range of creativity, from the hanging lamp that greeted them as they entered to the jewelry that occupied a couple of cases in the rear of the room to a chair, a water fountain and even a working motor-driven sculpture. And, of course, street signs hung on the walls—crosses between what they once were and canvases.

“An artist is someone who uses creativity in a different way,” Miriam said. “But there is a common thread among all the work, an underlying theme: So what do we do with these signs?”

Each artist answered that question in strikingly various ways: many choosing to maintain some semblance of the original signs, others using them in ways not much different than a blank canvas.

“I tried to retain the integrity of the sign, not just paint over it but add to it” said Matt Hebermehl, who contributed a bike crossing sign to the exhibition.

Carmela Aliffi, who had several works on display, along with a couple of collaborative pieces with Jane Fishman, followed a similar philosophy.

“It was a great idea to reuse these signs,” she said, “and a great challenge to work with the images on the signs, to incorporate what I was given, to use part of what’s there.”

No matter the approach and style, the unusual, unconventional medium demanded a bit of experimentation.

“I didn’t know how I was going to get the paint to stick,” Luke Hamilton said, who used combinations of acrylic and gesso for his “Right of Way for the Koala” (a yield sign) and “25 mph” (a speed limit sign). “The toughest part, though, was coming up with the ideas.”

Sam Carroll, whose stop/speed limit hanging lamp attracted many eyes and much buzz, said he first attempted a two-legged chair before brainstorming with a friend to come up with the idea for the unique light fixture.

“It’s a great catalyst for everybody,” Carroll said.

“I could have made mine out of anything in my shop; we know what we can do with canvas, with wood, with metal, whatever we do,” he added. “But that’s what makes this show interesting, why there’s so many people here. You get to see what people did with the same object.”

That sentiment pervaded the gallery, not only among the crowd but the artists themselves, intrigued by how their contemporaries approached the project, each in wholly individual ways—from types of media used to themes and messages.

“There’s a lot of interesting ideas,” Hamilton said. “Many took it in directions I didn’t even think of.”

The excitement and energy of the participating artists, coupled with the positive response from the community, has Jake and Miriam wanting to renew the “redeSIGN Art Project” every year. Not only does the show succeed as a group art exhibition, with compelling creativity on view, but it also reveals the possibilities of inspired and inventive approaches to sustainability, bringing to light the role art can play in a green economy and environmental campaigns.

“This makes people think about things they see everyday in a new way,” Miriam said. “It has been amazing to see how artists can bring a creative eye to an old sign. To think that something we find commonplace and potentially disposable would now grace someone’s wall as an art collection is empowering.”

Hamilton agreed: “I’m not really sure what they would do with the signs otherwise, but it’s pretty cool to get them out of the garbage and on the wall.

“I’m already looking forward to the next version of this,” he said.

WATCH FOR ARTISTS
For those in or near Savannah, head over to the downtown gallery at 312 West Broughton Street for a “Reception with the Artists” from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, May 15. The “redeSIGN Art Project” runs through May 18. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All artwork is for sale (at remarkably reasonable prices). Click here for photos by Jacob and Miriam Hodesh of “redeSIGN” artwork now on exhibit.