Junk in Your Trunk Becomes Stylish Funk

Amelia Harnes and the IKEA lamp shade, designed by Heather van der Grinten.

If Corning artist Amelia Harnas ever happens to help you with cleaning your office, home or car (AKA “fixing your hoarding problem”), rest assured your precious sentimental valuables (AKA “your ?junk”) won’t meet their demise in the county landfill. Instead, they’ll likely?meet a loftier end, repurposed as haute coutour.

That’s what happened to an inherited?IKEA?lamp shade we tossed from our Urban Corning headquarters?last month. I wondered what she’d do with the paper fluff and wire spokes of this decidedly funky but extremely impractical piece of Swedish brilliance. I saw that?lamp live again last Saturday at Recycled Runway, a ?fundraiser for The ARTS?Council of the Southern Finger Lakes held at 171 Cedar Arts Center.

Amelia modeled?the spokes as part of an ensemble designed by Heather van der Grinten, and the two elevated that blasted lamp shade to high fashion. About 20 models did their little turn on the catwalk, wearing recycled or repurposed materials such as pop can tabs, plastic communion cups, Target bags, butter packaging, contractor nails, newspapers and dog hair. Yes, dog hair.

The thing is, these models and designers make trash look good, reminding us once again, we here in Corning exist in a little bubble of urban energy?and creative drive.

The event, also including a silent auction of music experiences and works by the region’s most renowned artists, raised nearly $30,000 for local arts education and programming.

If you think you might like to try your skills as a designer, model or guest at next year’s event, stay on top of things at?The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes.