Clearlake >> When Pat Lieuallen began picking up trash on the streets of Clearlake two years ago, she never thought she would one day have her very own installment hanging in an art gallery.
Since co-founding Citizens Caring for Clearlake (CC4C), a group dedicated to cleaning illegal dump sites and litter across the city, Lieuallen has been collecting the most unique and interesting items to hang on the walls of her home. Her finds include clothing and baseball caps, children’s toys and a piggy bank, IDs (she kept the expired ones, but returned the others to their owners), vibrant fake flowers, knives, forks and spoons, and great deal of metal and wire. “It was for my enjoyment, because I was finding so many objects that I liked for one reason or another and my whole wall was covered,” Lieuallen said.
She had so many items hanging in her home that when friends visited they remarked that what she had created was actually a work of art. At that, Lieuallen got in touch with Melinda Young at the Art House Gallery in Clearlake. Young was enthused about the piece.
“I think people need to be aware,” she said, referring to the trash plaguing the town. “We wanted to bring awareness of what was happening. It’s very disturbing what people are doing.”
And while Lieuallen never intentionally set out to create art, she was more than happy to display her work in the gallery. She titled the installment “Wall of Shame,” and she hopes it might spur people to action. “I want them to be ashamed of themselves if they litter, if they dump garbage, if they don’t take things to the dump,” Lieuallen said. “I also want them to become involved in cleaning up. I want them to become aware of the litter that is here.”
It’s not uncommon to meet people who fail to recognize the trash problem right in front of them, Lieuallen said. She recounted a story of a 20-year Clearlake resident who attended a CC4C meeting, where she stated that she didn’t believe the city had a litter issue. But after just one meeting, the woman came back the next week and said, “Oh my God, now all I see is litter,” Lieuallen recalled. “I think that has happened to a lot of people who have been here for a long time. The human being can get used to almost anything. You can get used to living in a littered, dumpy area.”
As co-founder of CC4C, Lieuallen’s main goal is to encourage people to join CC4C and their crusade for a “Pristine ‘16.” Because there’s no reason to clean the streets alone when you can do it with a crew of 20-30 others. “We want to bring people together in cleaning up and beautifying and having an investment in Clearlake,” she said. “This is where you’re living, why not make it beautiful?”
With her installment, Lieuallen hopes to demonstrate the idea that collecting trash can be not only a rewarding endeavor, but an enjoyable one. Though she estimated that she shifted through five truckloads of trash to find the items included in the “Wall of Shame,” she had a great time doing it.
“I wanted also to inject an element of fun, of treasure hunting, into the idea of going around and picking up trash,” she said. “I think people think that picking up trash is just horribly dirty work and boring. They don’t realize it can also be fun.”
“Wall of Shame” has indeed elicited some strong reactions, both positive and negative. “We’ve had some real thought-provoking comments,” said Young. “Some people thought it was very interesting where other people have been very disturbed by it.”
Lieuallen’s work falls easily into the found art category, but while the Art House Gallery has featured found artwork before, they’ve never had anything quite as varied as “Wall of Shame.” Some people didn’t seem to know quite what to make of it. “A few of the artists were somewhat disgusted by it where others thought it was very cool,” Young said.
But Lieuallen doesn’t mind any of the less than glowing reviews. “I don’t care if they’re good or bad, it means people are reacting to it, they’re provoked in some way,” she said. “I think art should be provoking on a mental level and an emotional one.”
“Wall of Shame” will be on display in the Art House Gallery through May 31, with an art reception on May 27 from 6-8 p.m. The reception will celebrate the gallery’s fifth year of business as well as honor the work CC4C have been conducting over the last two years. “We really want to support their efforts and what they’re doing in our city,” Young said. “They’re making great strides.”
The Art House Gallery is located at 15210 Lakeshore Dr. in Clearlake.
And to learn more about CC4C, see a list of upcoming events and join a mailing list, visit cc4cl.org. They welcome any and all new faces. “This is a movement in Clearlake to really change the city, to get people involved,” Lieuallen said. “We want a community that is really invested in where they live.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
