There’s still time to offer a hand to pick up trash or to spruce up some of Odessa’s treasured works of art.
Volunteers are needed Saturday as part of the United Way’s Day of Caring and Keep Odessa Beautiful’s Don’t Mess With Texas Trash Off.
It’s a big effort and requires many busy hands, organizers said. Odessa Council for the Arts & Humanities Director Randy Ham said there is no such thing as enough volunteers.
“If we get crowded cleaning art, we can always send some out to help with Keep Odessa Beautiful and vice versa,” Ham said as he prepared for Saturday’s partnership with the United Way of Odessa for a Day of Caring. A Public Art cleaning project will be part of that effort from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“As part of the public art initiative, we need to go out into the city, look over the existing art and document its condition,” Ham said. “While we’re doing that, we’d like to be able to do a cursory cleaning and waxing of any of the bronze pieces. When the United Way called us about assisting in this process, we jumped at the chance.”
He said a recent list of Odessa’s artwork includes about 49 pieces. Most are city-owned but there are a few that belong to UTPB, OC and some are privately owned.
As part of Saturday’s event, Ham said they will probably discover new pieces so that number may grow. They will also catalog the collection around town and upload it to the Museum Without Walls.
The website will allow visitors to easily locate art in Odessa.
Saturday is a big day in Odessa for cleanliness as it is also Keep Odessa Beautiful’s Don’t Mess With Texas Trash Off.
Ham’s art project will focus mainly on the pieces at Noël Plaza and Memorial Plaza as teams of volunteers examine each piece for damage and wear, photograph each piece and clean as they go. As time permits, other pieces may also be visited and cleaned, a news release said.
Ham encouraged Odessans to show up and help out. “Not only will you be helping our community look better, but you may also learn something about the art around town,” he said.
Cleaning supplies are being donated by the Odessa Home Depot, who will also be providing a cleaning team. Ham previously said he was happy to partner with KOB.
“It just goes to show there are many ways to clean up our community,” he said.
For more information, call 432-337-1492.
