Congratulations to Charles Burt, first winner of the official Rejuvenate Joplin traveling trophy,  for picking up the most bags of trash!

Betty Saltenberger and Kelli Price, The Joplin Globe marketing director, prepare to "Rejuvenate Joplin."

Jo Mueller, director of Spiva Center for the Arts sorts through some of the found items that artists will use from a city cleanup to build a sculpture.

Cleaning up the streets — and finding fun junk — was on the agenda recently for dozens of Joplin residents.

Between 80 and 90 volunteers participated in the inaugural event of Rejuvenate Joplin. The concept involves not only cleaning city neighborhoods, but recycling found items that, instead of being thrown away as junk, will be made into a sculpture by local artists.

The volunteers met in the Memorial Hall parking lot on Nov. 19 and split into 10 different teams. Each team had a local artist and a designated area to clean up. The teams consisted of all types of area organizations, ranging from Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and community groups to The Joplin Globe and the Daybreak Rotary club.

The areas cleaned were between Schifferdecker Avenue and Range Line Road. Some neighborhoods the teams spiffed up were on High, Perkins and St. Louis avenues and Second and Fourth streets.

Each team picked up trash along those roads for two hours and met back at Memorial Hall for lunch.

The team that lugged in the most bags of trash, Charles Burt Realtors, was presented a traveling trophy. Members of the Charles Burt team had picked up 281/2 bags of trash, beating city workers, who took second place with only a half bag less than the Burt team.

But picking up trash was not the only thing accomplished.

“Certain things that were collected that were deemed unique and artistic in value were set aside and the artists from Spiva will put them together later,” said Mark Rohr, city manager.

Artists will sculpt a dinosaur that most likely will be displayed outdoors, so the artists had to keep that in mind when deciding what items to pluck from the trash for the sculpture.

“We were looking for durable things, things that were metal, plastic, wood,” said Marv Damon, a local artist who participated. “We’re going to do an outside sculpture, so we can’t use paper goods, cardboard, can’t use things that are really degradable. We got to have things that are somewhat weatherproof.”

The participants found everything from cooking pots and car parts to old wood and scrap pipes.

“It looks like trash, but once we’re done with it, it’s going to be a pretty interesting piece of art,” said Hiram Mesa, another local artist.

It is still unsure where the sculpture will be displayed although Spiva Center for the Arts is one potential location.

The sculpture will be done in conjunction with an exhibit at the gallery that will open June 2 next year and will display several other dinosaurs.

This was the first of what is intended to become seasonal events in the “Rejuvenate Joplin” campaign.

Event coordinators, which consisted of representatives of the city of Joplin, The Joplin Globe and Spiva, all said the event was very successful.

“Ten areas in Joplin are that much cleaner, and all it took was a couple of hours,” said Kelli Price, marketing director at the Globe.

“It cleans the community and constantly generates one or two pieces of artwork. It’s a win-win. And this is only phase one. Phase two is in the spring,” said Damon.

There were 162 bags of trash and a pile of items collected that can be used in the sculpture.

The artists will get together and build the sculpture in time for a similar event in spring. And for anyone interested in seeing the winning trophy, it will be on display at Charles Burt.

Thank you for Rejuvenating Joplin!

2 hours • 9 artists • 10 teams • 162 bags of trash • Countless “treasures” • And, a cleaner Joplin!


— Teams —

Charles Burt

Joplin Daybreak Rotary

St. Philips Episcopal Church

Betty Saltenberger & Friends

Freeman Health System

Girl Scouts Troop #6242

Boy Scouts Troop #24 –

chartered to Ward 2 of the LDS Church

Taylor Kids & Friends

City of Joplin

The Joplin Globe

Spiva Center for the Arts – artists