More than 50 artists have turned scraps from Bay Area landfills and clothing swaps into gallery-worthy work at the Petaluma Arts Center, where a sprawling new exhibition asks visitors to reconsider what actually counts as trash. The show, titled “It’s Not Trash: Reclaiming and Transforming,” fills both the center’s Main Gallery and North Gallery through October 24 with pieces ranging from assemblage sculpture to a textile installation made from waste gathered at clothing swaps and through a creative reuse store.
The exhibition was curated by Lisa Lightman, president of the Petaluma Arts Center board, who said it is meant to push viewers to examine their own relationship with waste, according to The Press Democrat. Lightman toured Recology Santa Rosa’s newer facility while developing the show, and the paper reports she sees art made from discarded material as both an opportunity and a form of activism — one that, in her words, can confront difficult truths without overwhelming an audience, and that turning trash into art amounts to a positive action step during an environmental crisis. The show is presented in partnership with the Recology San Francisco Artists in Residence program, Petaluma’s Reuse Alliance, and the Recology Artstart Student Hub.
A 36-Year-Old Program Rooted in a Sidewalk Sweep
The Recology San Francisco Artist in Residence program anchoring the Main Gallery traces back 36 years, according to the same Press Democrat account, to a program that gives participating artists studio space, a monthly stipend, and access to landfill materials for their work — though the show’s five invited artists face no strict requirement to work exclusively with discarded items. Environmental artist Jo Hanson founded the residency, according to the SFO Museum.
The Main Gallery in Petaluma showcases artists affiliated with that program or personally invited by Lightman, including Katie Murken, Asaki Oda, Bryan Keith Thomas, and Joanne Wang.
Local Students and a Fabric Mosaic Take the North Gallery
The North Gallery flips the focus to home turf, featuring a strictly local exhibition of work by area students alongside a community mosaic coordinated by the Reuse Alliance, per the Press Democrat’s reporting. That student showcase is connected to the Recology Artstart Student Hub, known as TRASH, which Recology Sonoma Marin leads, according to Recology.
The Reuse Alliance’s contribution, a textile installation called “texTILES,” was built from discarded fabric gathered at local clothing swaps and through the nonprofit’s creative reuse store, according to the City of Petaluma. The Reuse Alliance also offers skill-based workshops, according to the City of Petaluma.
A Historic Depot Setting and a Statewide Waste Problem
The gallery itself sits inside a renovated 1914 Mission Revival freight depot built by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, right next to the active SMART commuter rail station. The setting underscores just how much of daily North Bay life the exhibition’s subject touches: state figures from CalRecycle show California generated 77.2 million tons of waste in 2024, sending 44.7 million tons, or 58%, to landfills while the remaining 42% fell into a recycling-related category that includes exported recyclables, recycling, source reduction, compost, anaerobic digestion and mulch, even as the state has a statewide goal to recycle 75% of all waste and residents generate roughly 6.2 pounds of trash per person daily.
Talks and Panels Planned Through the Run
The Petaluma Arts Center will host three talks and presentations while the exhibition remains up. Bryan Keith Thomas is scheduled to present “We Are One,” on the cultural heritage of the Black South, on October 4. Katie Murken follows on October 17 with “Dust to Dust,” addressing environmental crisis and the silencing of women’s voices.
On October 18, Alison Gass and Phoebe Schenker will discuss the relevance of reuse in contemporary and historical art. Gass is founding executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, while Schenker serves as executive director of the Reuse Alliance, according to the Petaluma Arts Center.
“It’s Not Trash: Reclaiming and Transforming” runs through October 24 at the Petaluma Arts Center, 230 Lakeville St. The exhibition is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., admission is free, and the center accepts donations.
