Breck Create Precious Plastics Classes & Exhibitions
Breck Create Precious Plastics Classes and Exhibitions are crafted from melted colorful sleds and discarded plastics into artwork and more
by Shauna Farnell
Rather than end up in a Mongolian tar pit or worse, the Summit County landfill, discarded plastic trash stands a chance to become treasure in Breckenridge.
Proving that trash can be treasure, BreckCreate’s Precious Plastics program collects plastic waste around the community and transforms it into usable material with which students build artwork and functional items.
“We’ve collected about 7,000 pounds of plastic at this point, including sleds,” says BreckCreate’s Karlie McLaughlin. “Being part of an innovative circular economy where you’re turning your neighbors’ trash into a bench, side table, shot ski, jewelry, planter or anything you can dream up is pretty unique.”
Plastic piles up around here in the spring, particularly around sledding hills, in the form of broken sleds. This colorful material is the key ingredient to the creative process. BreckCreate’s classes involve melting down the sleds and other community donated plastic trash (Numbers 1, 2, 5 and 6) in the studio. Using slabs of rainbow-colored plastic, students then create everything from planters, mosaics, jewelry and furniture.
Artist Jodi Stuart’s solo exhibition – Second Life
“They can make any item they can dream up and create using our studio machinery,” McLaughlin says, adding that the classes are open to both locals and visitors.
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“Anyone who considers themself a creative or an engineer or someone who just likes to tinker and make things,” she says. “The possibilities are endless in the precious plastic studio.”
On Saturday, January 24, Breck Create opened Artist Jodi Stuart’s solo exhibition, Second Life, at the Old Masonic Hall. Jodi has spent the last several months as BreckCreate’s Artist-in-Residence, and this show is the grand finale of her time working within the Breckenridge creative community.
This isn’t just an art show; it’s the culmination of the local Precious Plastic Initiative. Much of the material used in these sculptures was processed right here in the Breckenridge studio using plastic donated by the community. Stuart utilizes the 3D-printing pen as a handheld drawing tool in a nostalgic gesture that is both meditative and tactile. Her process mirrors traditions like knitting or basket-weaving, resulting in “super-synthetic” forms that fill the void with a lightness and airiness that feels like stepping into a colorful 3d drawing in space.
The exhibition features a site-specific installation where visitors can actually interact with the work. Make a point of visiting, especially if you are looking for more after or before viewing the International Snow Sculptures. It is Free and Open to the Public through March 29, 2026.
Event Details:
- What: Second Life Opening
- When: Saturday, Jan 24 through March 29, 2026
- Where: Old Masonic Hall – 136 S Main Street, Breckenridge CO 80424
- Cost: Free and open to the public
Visit breckcreate.org to peruse the class schedules, collection events and details.
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