Enzo Marino contributed to this story.

Over $8,000 in scholarships were given to students studying at the California Institute of the Arts for their pieces submitted to the Chiquita Canyon “Found Art Scholarship Program” Thursday evening.

The winners of the scholarships were announced at a gallery reception in the main gallery at CalArts, where the found art pieces, constructed from materials gathered at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, were displayed.

“I think this year is better than other years,” said Felicia Tuasig, the senior administrative assistant for CalArts. “Some of the pieces I see are so unique and so original.”

Four winners were chosen from the 18 contestants to submit art to the scholarship contest. The judging process took over two hours as judges debated the pieces.  

The winning pieces include Hagar Cygler’s “Untitled,” which was awarded the first place scholarship of $4,000.

Cygler said her artwork gave new life to what others had thrown away.

“I believe there is enough photography and enough lost memories that you can work with to show pieces that are forgotten,” she said. “I came to the landfill to find something that was forgotten and thrown away to do something that relates to my interests.”

The second place scholarship, totaling $2,500 was given to a piece titled “Best Wishes,” designed by Sichong Xie.

Samantha Chen won the third scholarship, worth $1,500,  for her piece, “From The Hutter, Look to the Stars.”

An honorable mention scholarship of $500 was awarded to Nadezhda Korepanova for a piece titled “Prohibited (Russian rhetoric).”

At least 80 percent of the materials used in the construction of the art had to come from the landfill. Glue, paint and other materials made up the other 20 percent of construction.

“We were trying to find a way to use our facility to do something positive in the community,” said John Musella, a spokesman for Chiquita Canyon.

He said that the idea came about as a way “for people to actually think about recycling the items that they’re throwing away.”

Through the art, Musella said, people can hopefully get a better understanding of what they throw away and how to recycle it.

“A lot of the items that people throw away as trash,” he said, “can actually be repurposed for a different reason.”