Mission Statement: The Salon de Refuse, a collection of art and cultural artifacts, aims to shed light on the prevalence, uses, and creative potential of trash. Through exhibitions, on-going Web dialogue, and interactive museum-based activities, the Museum will educate and empower the general public to acknowledge and reform traditional perceptions of trash in meaningful ways.

Collections Policy Overview: Our museum contains a survey of art and cultural artifacts that directly relate to the use of and reference to trash. Historically, individuals have used a variety of “throw-away” materials for various reasons: out of necessity (i.e. new materials are not available or affordable), as cultural commentary (shedding light on just how much trash we produce), and because trash is often very interesting and reveals something about the society that has deemed it “trash”. Our museum offers a wide range of objects ranging from “high art” (Basquiat’s mattress paintings, Warhol’s Brillo boxes, Jack Pierson’s found letter pieces, etc.) to handicrafts made from various materials widely interpreted as refuse. The aim in creating a trash museum is to educate the public about trash, waste, and the enormous potential for creativity in it. We hope not only to make viewers cognizant of the waste that we all produce, but to also inspire them to take an innovative, creative, and proactive stance on the subject of waste.

What's In Our Name?: Salon de Refuse is a play on words, and a nod to Art History--specifically the Salon des Refusés (Fr. "exhibition of rejects"), which was an exhibition of works rejected by the Paris Salon in the later half of the 19th century (Manet was in this exhibition). We have taken this famous exhibition title, and replaced the original "Refusés" with "Refuse" as in "rubbish", "trash" or "garbage". We have chosen "Refuse" as a replacement word because it is to the point--the work in our museum is made from trash or mass produced materials meant to be thrown away. The word establishes this immediately, and the Art Historical reference provides reassurance that through vision and innovation anything can be Art.

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