Holy Trinity Catholic School students make a video with 2010 Whitney Biennial winner Theaster Gates about what they want to see in their neighborhood. Gates’ exhibition Dry Bones and Other Parables from the North will open this Saturday as part of the Transformation Project Walk.

Join the Pulitzer this Saturday, May 15, for the Transformation Project Walk, the grand finale to the Transformation projects. Since last fall, the Pulitzer has been implementing community programs in relation to the work of Gordon Matta-Clark, which combine art, social engagement and the urban landscape. On Saturday, these programs will showcase their achievements at various sites in Grand Center and the neighborhood of Hyde Park. For a full description of this event, visit the Pulitzer’s website.

Robert Longyear spray paints a battered trashcan inside the Woolworth Building. The St. Louis-based artist collected various objects around Grand Center to be incorporated into his show for Transformation. For an explanation on this exhibition, visit the Urban Evolution blog.

As my friend Courtney said the other day of Ideal (Dis-) Placements, stick a fork in it. It’s done. St. Sebastian has peered down from his post in the Entrance Gallery for nearly a full year, and in one month, he’ll journey back to Harvard Art Museum, as the other masterworks return to their respective dwellings.

We have another show to look forward to—Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark. As the title suggests, this exhibition will focus on how Gordon Matta-Clark, an artist in New York in the 1970s, transformed what was labeled useless–mainly abandoned buildings–into enchanting elements. One piece to be in Urban Alchemy is Garbage Wall, which will be of course a wall made from garbage. Might it be more than that, though?

The original Garbage Wall (Matta-Clark made three) was built in 1970 at Manhattan’s St. Mark’s Church. Celebrating the first Earth Day, Matta-Clark orchestrated its construction over three days by inviting passers-by to dump urban refuse into a mould with tar and plaster. For our 2009 re-creation, the Pulitzer is also asking the community to partake.

Our garbage collection is led by Jenny Murphy, a freelance “Garbage Specialist.” Yesterday, she went to two neighborhood schools to call for contributions, leaving behind cardboard bins. She’ll visit two more to again talk about Matta-Clark and the possibilities of art classes working on their own garbage sculpture; similar to what happened for last year’s Community Light Project, when students were invited to make light pieces during The Light Project.

To prevent the Pulitzer from becoming a landfill, we’re mostly taking donations from those specific schools at the moment. In addition, Jenny, and sometimes I, will make garbage runs. (Bulk trash days are coming up.) Jenny is also organizing a neighborhood trash clean-up with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Washington University Undergrads. You can get updates about these excursions on 2buildings1blog.

If you’d like the chance to play with urban waste, come by the Pulitzer’s booth during Earthways Green Home Festival on September 26. Jenny will be there crafting kites, seed starter cups, and handmade paper out of old newspapers with anyone who would like to join her. A tall Plexiglas box, trash, and gloves will be available  for people to simulate their own garbage wall. We’ll also be taking public donations there–nothing perishable please.