About the Art Project

This is a process project. Artist Barb Sorensen is photographing how nature interacts with trash in a section of the Potowatomie Forest Preserve on MIlwaukee Ave., in Wheeling, IL, and then alslo cleaning up the trash in that section of the woods.

 The mission for the artist portion of this project is to create a traveling art exhibit featuring pictures of trash from this part of the Midwest. The exhibits will include:

• 100+ photographs

• Video of behind the scenes work done putting this project together

• Decorative Art made from some of the pieces of trash collected

• Photographs of the clean up crew in process

• Each exhibit will also be offered 1 hour sessions for viewers to try their hand at making art from trash and having it photographed and optioned to be included in the traveling exhibit, and to ask questions of the artists

• "Man-on-the-Street" type interviews with random people in public places to add to the video

• A website where visitors can view upcoming display dates, post their own Trash Art Cleanups, and photos/videos of their own Trash Art projects.

• Short stories created about certain pieces of the trash collected

• To explore where it came from, why, and how it got there

• To clean up all the trash, after we have photographed and videotaped it

• To dispose of the trash and recyclable items properly

• To give due thanks and appreciation to the businesses that sponsor this event

• To seek out 12 exhibit locations/year to display this project.

• To network with curators and museum exhibit coordinators

• To be inclusive of other businesses as advertising sponsors

• To offer a fun community service project for people to get volunteer hours on while doing good for the community

The Objective of this project is to have fun with the trash and how nature plays with it, while also cleaning it up. I hope to encourage and inspire others to go have fun cleaning this stuff up by creating theirown exhibits as well. 

How this project began (Background/History)

On an unusual out of season warm February day in early February 2026, I, Barb Kronau-Sorensen, went for an afternoon walk. Being new to the neighborhood, I decided to head north on Milwaukee avenue to explore the surroundings there. On the way, I noticed a lot of trash on the side of the road. Being an artist, and ever curious, I found a nice almost new screw driver lying in the dirt. I picked it up and examined it to see if it was still in good condition. To my luck, it was. Then I looked around to see if possibly it belonged to some one nearby. But there was no one around except lots of traffic rushing by. So I pocketed it, straightened myself up, and took a look at the edge of the forest there. I was standing next to the Potowatomie woods along the street. I saw how after the snow had melted, there revealed a LOT of trash strewn throughout the woods.  I looked a little closer and found some interesting things, shapes, and objects. I was amazed and a bit intrigued by the ways nature wraps itself through and around these randomly tossed rejected items from humans. So I  took out my little gopro camera and began photographing the "mess" and the interesting ways the trash and nature interacted. As I continued on my walk, I thought about how many people it might take to clean this stuff up. I considered the animals that poke in and around the trash and how it affects their habitat and paths in life. I wondered how all  this trash got here. Was it tossed from cars? Did it fly out of garbage trucks on windy days? Did it fly from business yards across the street on windy days? Do the business owners want their signs and blown-away banners back? Do they care? Do they miss the items? How much these items must have cost their owners who created them... and on and on my thoughts went, and my questions left unanswered. They didn't need to be answered. I recognized how each piece of trash, has it's own individual story and journey it has been on. I began to write these stories in my mind as I imagined where the items came from and how they got there. Pretty soon, as I continued to walk north, I came across a little bank.  I walked in to ask if they would consider sponsoring a cleanup project/art exhibit created from some of the trash I could find there and interesting photos of how nature interacts with the trash. They were interested and told me to send the info. When I got home, I remembered I had met one of the owners of an environmental type group called Cleanup-Giveback. I was impressed with their service work and how well they cleaned sites up. So I found them online and gave them a call. To my luck, they still had a date available and they sent me a flier to begin recruiting volunteers.... And that is how this project began. Curiosity of an artist, and a desire to live in clean surroundings. You can read updates on this project as it comes along in the blog below. If you have any questions, would like more info, would like to be an advertising sponsors in support of the project, or to join a cleanup, please send me a message.

Click here to contact Barb

About Barb Sorensen - Renaissance Syle Artist
Click here to read more about the artist