Virtual Look Inside Eco Art Webinar

Resisting Entropy: Oceanside High School Art Club Fundraiser

Since 2011, Midcoast artists have worked together for the 24-hour collaborative project Resisting Entropy. The group begins with a large collection of discarded materials and over the course of the day, shapes them into sculptural and installation-based works. This year, the members of Oceanside High School Art Club will take on this feat in ArtLab from 12PM Saturday, March 28 - 12PM Sunday, March 29 to fundraise for study trips to art museums across New England. Join us for a public exhibition in ArtLab on Monday, March 30, time 10AM-6PM.

Resisting Entropy is inspired by the words of artist William Kentridge: 

"The job of the artist is to fight against entropy – to keep on taking these fragments and say, ‘What can they become?’ To take the fragments and construct something provisionally new."

Check out Resisting Entropy in the CMCA archives:

Resisting Entropy (2013) exhibition page (2013)

Resisting Entropy III (2015) time-lapse video (2015)

Oceanside High School Art Club Resisting Entropy 2026 time lapse video

Marcis Curtis Artist Statement
“I spent almost a decade in St. Louis, and I had an apartment near a bakery that would consume hundreds of eggs daily in their operations. When taking the trash out I would encounter stacks of egg cartons looking like small skyscrapers next to the dumpster, or having been blown over by the wind, now a tattered quilt of cardboard across the alley. These structures drew me in, and I started seeing interesting pulp paper packaging shapes in the dumpsters more and more. Each item has been carefully measured, a pulp paper mold engineered perfectly to ensure its safe delivery, only to be discarded immediately upon receipt. 

In saving these forms and adorning them with details and attention, I feel like an archaeologist uncovering the lost deities of another world. This adornment is a way for me to process the enormity and absurdity of modern life, to slow down and see beauty everywhere, and to bring forth the imaginative child within. From turning over rotten logs in the woods as a kid in Maine, to exploring abandoned buildings in my adolescence, I have always found beauty in the structure of what was and the process of decomposition. A decaying tree often supports more life than a 'perfectly' healthy one. Over time the patterns in nature and human engineering erode and collapse in on themselves, recombining into interesting new forms.”

Second Story Builders
Second Story Builders is a mission-driven LLC, dedicated to pioneering circular construction practices in Midcoast Maine. We specialize in deconstruction services, reclaimed material sales, and commissioned design+build projects that prioritize the use of salvage. By practicing "Radical Reuse," we not only reduce waste but also craft unique, sustainable spaces and objects that preserve our past and tell a second story. Visit Second Story Builders’ Radical Reuse Center in Union to shop for reclaimed materials. From heritage lumber to budget-friendly finds, all purchases support Second Story Builders’ education and workforce training programs that advance circular construction and help reduce waste.

Megan Valanidas Artist Statement
“I love trash. Trash tells the story of what we value, what we ignore, and what we hope will disappear. I create everyday objects meant to return safely to soil—intended not for the landfill, but for the ground. In my work, I look closely at ordinary things—soda cups, bubble mailers, chip bags—objects designed for a moment of convenience that result in a lifetime of persistence on our planet.

Traditional plastics carry toxic legacies. Microplastics drift quietly through our soils, our oceans, even our bodies. Standing over the kitchen bins—trash, recycling, compost—I often find myself asking: Where does this actually go? How do we make sure the right items end up in the right place? Even with clear labels, we get it wrong. Working hands-on with bio-based materials, I realized the challenge isn’t just discovering alternatives. It requires rethinking every step of how we source, shape, use, and return them—ensuring the cycle truly closes. From beginning to end, these materials must succeed.

In this way, throwing something away is no longer an act of disappearance, but a small gesture of return: a hopeful rehearsal for a world in which our materials nourish the systems that sustain us, and letting go becomes a way of giving back.”

Photography Policy: By participating in ArtLab programming, I understand my child or myself may be photographed by CMCA staff for general documentation and publicity. I also understand that no royalty, fee or other compensation shall become payable to me by reason of such use