By LINDA CHION KENNEY
An expansive display of student art at the Florida State Fair this month marked the return of the Repurposed Doodad Art/Sculpture Competition, founded in 2012 by Tampa Regional Artists, a nonprofit community outreach program.
Focused on three-dimensional art (3D art), the competition challenges students in kindergarten through grade 12, taught at home or in school facilities, to reuse unconventional art materials in response to an environmentally conscious theme.
For the 2023-24 contest, students were asked to use re-purposed state fair ribbons and household plastics in their entries reflective of the theme, “Florida Native Flora and Fauna,” including such things as orange blossom, saw grass, manatees, American reptiles and Florida scrub-jays.

“Newspaper Bass,” one of many Winthrop Charter School entries, was created by seventh-graders Ben Turner, Aarav Jane and Violet Orta.
On display were many entries from Winthrop Charter School in Riverview, where Ben Turner, Aarav Jane and Violet Turner, under art teacher Jill Maxwell, submitted their work entitled, “Newspaper Bass.”
“We chose the bass fish because we thought it looked unique and because it’s an important native fish to Florida,” the trio of students reported about their submission.
Newspaper Bass, created with papier-mache over plastic, decorated with acrylic paint and repurposed ribbons, is one of 89 entries posted in the www.doodadoftampa.org website gallery, open now to People’s Choice voting. Only one vote per sculpture per day is allowed.
Meanwhile, winning entries at the Florida State Fair are set to be on display in the youth art tent at the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, March 2-3, at the Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa.
This year’s panel of 13 judges included Julie Ward, community investment officer for Tampa Electric Company; Mallory Dimmitt, inaugural chief executive officer of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation; Gregory L. Morgan, vice chair of the board of directors for the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts; Brenda R. Gregory, who holds a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology; and Christina Barker, chief of staff, Vinik Family Office. Jeffrey Vinik is owner and minority owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Red Sox, respectively.

Kai Chang and Izabelle Reyes, of Winthrop Charter School, earned third place in middle school competition for their sculpture of the Limenitis Arthemis butterfly. It’s Greek, for “harbor goddess.”
The full line-up of judges is posted online, as well as photos, descriptions and videos of contest entries, past and present.
The doodad competition traces its roots to 2012, when it sought work from middle and senior high school students. As the story goes, the director of an assisted living retirement community in Hyde Park reported in 2011 that he had no use for 30 historic street light globes. Candy Olson, then the chair of the Hillsborough County school board, turned the matter over to Dana Warner, then the supervisor for K-12 students, who, in turn, announced the art contest to teachers. The globe challenge became the first doodad competition, followed by competitions involving the donation of thousands of empty wooden cigar boxes.
The competition site on line includes a look back at other contests and award winners, including the Best of Show entry created by the entire fifth-grader at Ruskin Elementary School in 2019, reflecting the value of the mangrove estuary. As described, the work created by 144 students “reflects the value of the mango, which provides protection for young fish and helps stabilize the shoreline against erosion.”

Earning an Honorable Mention ribbon for their entry entitled “The Childhood Garden,” were eighth-graders Amanda Bonachea and Elourah Pappas, from Winthrop Charter School.
That same year, the “art enrichment cluster” at Boyette Springs Elementary School in Riverview created a sculpture reflecting an owl near its nest (created out of maps) about to eat a poisoned rat (created out of aluminum cans). The sign, created with repurposed straws, reads: “Please don’t poison my dinner.”
Also in 2019, Noah Rymer from Lennard High placed first in the high school category, with his “Iron Mare” entry, a look at “the outcome of our destructive ways if we, the humans, do not conserve the wildlife that we take for granted.”
As for this year’s competition, it marks a return to public showings in post-pandemic times, according to Kathy Durdin, president of the Tampa Regional Artists Board of Directors.
It started when Gregory, coordinator for Florida State Fair Creative Living Competitions, called Durdin and said, “I have a doodad for you; Do you have a doodad competition this year?” Durdin answered that there was no doodad and there was no venue. “Well, okay,” Gregory responded, “we have all these state fair ribbons, and I have a venue.”

LInda Chion Kenney Photos
Kathy Durdin, president of the Tampa Regional Artists Board of Directors, at the Repurposed Doodad Art/Sculpture Competition display at the Florida State Fair
The rest is history, as the doodad competition gets back on firm footing after the coronavirus pandemic setback, when the show in 2020 was set to debut at Tampa International Airport on March 13, the same day the state locked down. “There were 135 entries that year and the next year we were totally virtual,” Durdin said. “The year after that we had nothing.”
Now, with 89 entries, the Repurposed Doodad Art/Sculpture Competition is back in business as a teachable moment for creative minds focused on conservation.
“What we’re really excited about this year is that about two-thirds of the entries came from Title 1 schools,” Durdin said. “This shows that we have some really fabulous art teachers out there, and what the kids come up with is absolutely amazing.”