April Special Event
A Special Event From The Center for Public Service and Community Research
What Story Does Our Trash Tell?
- Tuesday, April 7th, 2026
From 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | At The Commerce St. Bldg. C100, College of Public Service,
REGISTER
Turn waste into art—and rethink what our trash reveals about us and the systems we inhabit. Join Houston-based artist Gleeson Ryan for a hands-on collage workshop exploring sustainability, storytelling, and creative reuse. Participants will create a unique artwork responding to the question “What Story Does My Trash Tell?” using discarded materials such as junk mail, plastic waste, photographs, magazines, and recycling collected from the UHD campus itself.
Through this exploration into junk journaling, upcycling, and collage, attendees will reflect on their personal relationship with waste, consider what everyday materials reveal about patterns of consumption, and reimagine trash as a site of creative possibility.
What to Bring
Paper ephemera that tells your story—receipts, junk mail, notes, or photocopies of old photos. All other materials will be provided. No prior art experience required—just curiosity and your trash!
Presented in partnership with the 2026 Arts & Communication Festival “Express” (Department of Arts & Communication, Humanities & Social Sciences), the Center for Public Service and Community Research (CPS), and UHD Sustainability Council. Supported by the Cultural Enrichment Center.
Gleeson Ryan
Houston-based artist Gleeson Ryan is a maker and upcyclist who works at the intersection of craft and sustainability. She uses discarded materials to create objects and garments that examine the impact of resource production and consumption on the environment and human health. By working with waste materials such as plastic bags and aluminum can tabs, she transforms items typically destined for the landfill and challenges viewers to reconsider what trash looks like—and what it can become. At the same time, in her role at Future 500, a non–profit with the mission to build trust between companies and NGOs to drive business as a force for good, Gleeson works across sectors to advance sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and the depolarization of critical social and environmental issues. Gleeson is also a poet, fire performer, fiber artist, and environmental advocate, and serves as a docent at the Orange Show Foundation for Visionary Art. See her artwork on Instagram.
Contact Natacha Poggio for more information, poggion@uhd.edu.