How to Recycle an Old Newsstand

When Sacramento’s popular alternative free newspaper, the Sacramento News and Review (SN&R), announced their Newsstand Art Project, I jumped at the chance to design my own piece of public art. My finished will be placed at a Sacramento location and have regular duties as a newsstand. As well as holding copies of the SN&R, it will serve as a piece of art.

I consider myself a writer. But at the same time, I am a highly creative person who likes to try different activities to fuel my writing. I don’t make writing a major focus in my life. Instead, I fuel my creativity by taking on activities like spinning, weaving and knitting. Lately, I’ve been creating my own greeting cards using a heat gun, watercolors and colored pencils. Recently, I tried “painting” with watercolor pencils. Where were those when I was a kid?

The SN&R has 300 newsstands in storage. Mine is #248 and came in basic black. It took me about a month to complete my project. Here are the easy steps I took to give a basic black newsstand a second shot at a useful new life:

Choose the Colors

The SN&R’s logo is in white, black and red, so I decided to stick to those colors. Making sure to wear a paint mask, I used about four cans of white indoor/outdoor spray paint as a base for my newsstand. I followed the directions on the can and sprayed in a horizontal/vertical pattern to prevent overspray.

Design a Pattern

Designing a pattern came easy. My husband and I had just made plans to take a cruise to Hawaii next year, and we agreed it would take about a year to save up for our trip. The thought of putting away savings each month was a reachable goal. When we made that first deposit into savings, I started to picture the big, happy flowers and big and bold patterns I’ve seen on fabric and many classic men’s Hawaiian shirts.

I’m not a stranger to traveling. I grew up along the Sacramento River, but I am drawn to the ocean. I love beachcombing and walking for miles and miles along the surf. Years ago, I took a trip to the Caribbean and visited a sea turtle farm. I also got to stand in beautiful blue-green water and fed stingrays. At the time, I wondered if I was going to get my fingers back. I’ve watched whales and dolphins off the coast of Monterey and Alaska. Everything about the ocean takes my breath away.

I decided on a Hawaiian theme. Not being trained formally as an artist, drawing primitive looking flowers and turtles on my newsstand would be more my speed.

Paint the Pattern

I used indoor/outdoor acrylic paint. Since I was sticking to the color, red, I chose the darkest red I could find. By choosing one color, I didn’t have to spend hours agonizing on the selection of colors. I already had black acrylic paint leftover from another project.

I lightly penciled in my design. I bought paintbrushes in different sizes so I could cover the different areas. Once the pattern is penciled in, you just paint within the lines of the design, and there is not much thinking involved.

Protect Your Newsstand

According to the SN&R, the goal for the artist is to make a newsstand’s design last five years outdoors. The staff does touch-ups at times, but to give a newsstand protection from the elements, the major thing an artist can do is to seal the design. I sprayed my finished newsstand with a can of interior/exterior polyurethane.

Where my newsstand ends up depends on the SN&R distribution manager. While getting my weekly copy of the SN&R, I hope to find my masterpiece.