by Starting back in 2019, Sadie Ward was commissioned to create portraits of historical women for the Ramsey County Historical Society during their celebration of 100 years of women suffrage.
“I was like sitting on my couch in my. Pajamas reading this on my laptop and I was like oh my gosh these women did these phenomenal things probably wearing these really uncomfortable corsets,” Ward said. “And my mind went from corsets to bras to I should cut up bras to make portraits of women.”
Ward keeps track of every scrap of miscellaneous bra material from each portrait. A smaller 9-by-9 canvas may only take three bras, but larger portraits may take up to 20 bras to make.
“All of the blue or all of the flesh tones might be one bra, but then there’s some of those accent colors,” Ward said. “I got color coordinated tote bins so that I keep all my scraps because a part of what I’m doing is trying to reduce waste going to the landfill. So a part of this discipline is keeping track of those scraps.”
Her artwork and bra-recycling-discipline has caught the attention of local and national organizations. While Ward is traveling on the hunt for other second-hand and recycled bras for her next pieces, some of her work is on display on the second floor of the Coffman Memorial Union on campus.
Anika Byrne, the arts and culture coordinator for the Student Union Association, chose to showcase Ward’s work during Women’s History Month.
“She found a way to give these bras a second life,” Byrne said.
Ward also works with The Bra Recyclers, a company based in Gilbert, Ariz., that specializes in recycling bra materials and other lingerie pieces.
“In the world that we live in there are so many materials that are recyclable they just aren’t mainstream recyclable because there isn’t really an economic benefit by recycling them,” Ward said. “So that’s part of what I think is important about ‘brart’. It’s like really sending out that message to be like no we can. Have these impacts on reducing waste on the landfill. It might take a little extra work but in the grand scheme of things sending your bra to me or a bra recycler is a different choice than putting them in the trash.”
University of Minnesota students will have the chance to donate old bras to Ward’s artwork and The Bra Recyclers during an artist reception on Friday, April 7. Ward is also bringing her life-sized Lizzo ‘brart’ piece to the showcase.
“I have plenty of bras that I’m like I never wear this. I only have one bra that I wear and I’m just gonna take all of these and think that ‘I’m not using these’ someone else can,” Byrne said.
