Doodad Competition Features Student Art From Repurposed Cigar Boxes

The second annual Re-Purposed Doodad Sculpture Competition and Exhibition Tour kicks off Friday, Jan. 11 at Horizon Bay at Hyde Park, featuring some 3,000 cigar boxes turned into pieces of art by school-aged children throughout Hillsborough County.

"Last year it was plastic globes headed for the trash, this year it's cigar boxes left over from the efforts of 'Support Our Troops,' a local group that sends care packages overseas," notes a report on the upcoming competition.

Students were invited to "repurpose" the boxes into art pieces, which will be featured for competition and a tour-show opening Friday night, Jan. 11, from 5-7 p.m.

Horizon Bay at Hyde Park is at 800 West Azeele St. in Tampa.

From there, the cigar boxes will be on display through Feb. 28 at area museums, including the Tampa Fire Museum, Glazer's Children Museum and the History Center.

At the competition, prizes and a summer art scholarship will be awarded.

Dana Warner, Hillsborough's supervisor of art education for students in kindergarten through grade 12, said the effort focuses on "the 4C's of 21st Century Skills" — collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.

These skills, she said in an event announcement, "were highly evident among the students" with every piece showing "a different solution to the puzzle."

"Doodad" is a professional, community funded art show aimed to spark "creativity in fun, educational and competitive ways."