Recycled African Masks

I love giving my recycled art classes during the summer. I hoard during the school year in hopes of having enough egg cartons, paper tubes, straws, or whatever I might find interesting to have enough for a group class.

I saw examples of these African inspired masks at Fem Manuals, one of my favorite art sites ever! They always have incredibly creative projects, recycle often, and really capture the adventure that their young artists are constantly having.

Our masks are created using recycled laundry soap containers, bottle caps, acrylic paint, and other materials from the studio. I assisted with construction using a hot glue gun. We discussed the stylized geometric forms and special uses for masks in Africa, as in many cultures of the world. Here are some of our creations.