A downtown Las Vegas gallery is turning donation bins into gallery walls next Saturday, when dozens of local artists unveil work built entirely from thrifted, secondhand, and reclaimed materials. The UPcycle 2026 opening reception runs from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, and admission is free and open to all ages.
The reception takes place at Slonina ARTSpace, located at 901 E. Fremont St., Unit 174, according to a listing from Las Vegas Weekly. The show is presented in partnership with Goodwill of Southern Nevada, and the publication reports that Goodwill is sponsoring food and beverages for the opening event. Per the listing, UPcycle 2026 marks the third year Slonina ARTSpace has hosted the exhibition.
Thrift Finds Reimagined as Fine Art
The premise is straightforward but ambitious: Las Vegas artists take thrifted, secondhand, and reclaimed materials and transform them into original works of art, the Las Vegas Weekly listing notes. The resulting exhibition spans painting, sculpture, assemblage, mixed media, and fiber art, giving visitors a wide range of styles built from the same starting point of castoff goods. The opening reception itself doubles as a chance to see the finished show and meet the artists behind it, according to the same listing.
Exactly how many artists are participating depends on which source you check. The Las Vegas Weekly listing puts the number at more than 40 Las Vegas artists, while organizer Robin Slonina's website describes the show as bringing together 50 local artists to reimagine donated, thrifted, and found materials. Awards will recognize selected works from among the pieces on display, per the event listing.
A Tradition Rooted in Second Saturday
UPcycle has become an annual fixture for Slonina ARTSpace, presented each year in partnership with Goodwill of Southern Nevada, according to Robin Slonina's site. The organizer's page notes that the exhibition traditionally opens during the monthly Second Saturday Art Party and remains on view throughout November, continuing a format that has repeated since the show's earlier editions.
Last year's installment, billed as the second annual UPcycle exhibit, also featured 50 local artists and followed a similar arc, according to KNPR / Desert Companion. That 2025 show opened during the Second Saturday Art Party on November 8 and was scheduled to remain on view through November 29, per the same report. A separate account from 8 News Now similarly described fifty local artists transforming thrifted and found objects into imaginative works of art at that 2025 event, which the station also confirmed was free to the public and open to all ages.
On Threads, Slonina ARTSpace had earlier put out a call for local artists ahead of this year's show, writing that the group exhibition would offer $1,200 in cash and prizes to five best-in-show artists, with entry details posted to the organization's website. For now, the clearest picture of what to expect on November 14 comes from the event listing itself: a free, all-ages afternoon of thrifted materials turned fine art, set against the backdrop of downtown Las Vegas's Fremont Street arts scene.
