Columbus, IN.  Fourteen teams from schools, churches, businesses and other community organizations have teamed up with local architects and engineers to design and build structures made entirely from canned foods.   They will begin building on Saturday, February 20 at 10am at Fairoaks Mall.  All structures must be assembled by 9pm on the 20th.

The structures will be on display at the mall from February 21 to February 28.

On the morning of February 21st, a celebrity jury selects winners for Best Meal, Best Use of Labels, Structural Ingenuity, Jurors Favorite and Honorable Mention.  Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at 1:30pm.

The public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite structure from February 21 to 28.    There are two ways to vote for the “People’s Choice Award.”

At each structure, the public can vote by putting canned food in the receptacle at their favorite structure.  “People can bring their own cans or Kmart will have extra cans for sale at their store in the mall,” said Warren Baumgart, executive director of the Columbus Area Arts Council and a partner with the canstruction team.  “Everyone can vote as many times as they like—each can of food counts as one vote.  We want a lot of cans.”

Canstruction, a charity committed to ending hunger, is the most unique food drive in the world.  The goal of the canstruction is to donate cans of food that are used for voting and in the structures to local food banks.  The cans will be donated to Love Chapel, Hope Food Bank, Salvation Army and Human Services—organizations that feed over 1500 families in our community every year.

Canstruction is an annual design/build competition to benefit the food banks in Bartholomew County under the auspices of the Society for Design Administration and American Institute of Architects. For information about the rules and detailed information, call 812.376.2539 or visit www.columbusyp.org/canstruction.

The Columbus Area Arts Council is a public, not-for-profit corporation supported by private donations, the City of Columbus, the State of Indiana through the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.