Chiquita Canyon Landfill and CalArts are teaming up once again to host their Found Art Scholarship Program, rewarding students for showing off their creativity using almost exclusively discarded materials.

“This Found Art scholarship program with CalArts is a great way to artistically demonstrate the reuse of materials that have been discarded by society,” said Mike Dean of Chiquita Canyon. “Every year, we’re so impressed with the creativity expressed by students.”

Chiquita Canyon Landfill created the partnership with CalArts six years ago, with the idea being for the artists to demonstrate creativity using objects discarded by society at the landfill, according to the organizers.

To be eligible for the competition, students transform objects found at the landfill into art; guidelines state that at least 80 percent of each piece must be comprised of materials collected at the landfill.

$8,000 in scholarship funds are up for grabs for the top-four art pieces. The first-place winner will receive $4,000; second place will receive $2,500; and third place will receive $1,500.

The works will be judged by a panel of representatives from Chiquita, CalArts, and the local arts community.

About Chiquita Canyon

Permitted for more than 50 years, Chiquita Canyon is a regional landfill that provides the Santa Clarita Valley and surrounding Los Angeles communities with environmentally safe and efficient waste disposal services.  Chiquita Canyon is located in Castaic, California, approximately 3 miles west of the Interstate 5 on State Route 126 in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Chiquita Canyon, like other solid waste landfills, over time generates gases which are safely converted into a valuable source of clean energy.  Chiquita deploys a state-of-the-art gas recovery system to collect and convert the gas, generating clean energy for 10,000 homes.