Saturday night, ordinary soda pop tabs became works of art in a competition to raise money for a Charlottesville nonprofit.
The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville's first Pop Art Contest came to an end with 10 entries on display at Piedmont Virginia Community College.
Ronald McDonald Houses nationwide have been collecting pop tabs for years as a way to raise money while teaching kids about philanthropy and recycling.
The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville provides a home away from home for families whose children are being treated for an illness or injury at a Charlottesville hospital.
Rita Ralston, the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, thought the pop tab contest would be a creative way to use some of those pop tabs and get more people interested in the organization.
"I think some people underestimated how much time it would take to complete the project, but it is great fun. You can see here today that people had a lot of fun and used a lot of creativity," said Ralston.
The winning creation was a dress made almost entirely of those pop tabs. Lucas Bergman designed and created the dress, winning a $250 Crutchfield gift certificate.
Bergman recently stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Charlottesville while his daughter was admitted as a patient at the University of Virginia Medical Center. He said he learned of the contest during his stay and decided to use his degree of fashion design from Virginia Commonwealth University to create the dress.
"I was really intrigued when I got into the project," said Bergman. "After getting that big bag [of tabs] I was a little overwhelmed, so I was like ‘What did I get myself into.' But it came out, so I was pretty pleased."
Other creations included a bridge built by members of the Building a Bridge organization, a mirror, and a sculpture.
At the end of the event Saturday, Bergman donated the dress to the house to be auctioned off.
