A porcelain doll, its hands and feet wrapped in plastic. An old-school answering machine. A denture mold. These are just some of the 175 pieces of strange debris that members of the neighborhood cleanup group, the Trash Falcons, have found and catalogued over the years while cleaning up around Lake Merritt, including its shores, its lawns, and its paths and surrounding areas.
These fascinating items are now on display as part of the “The Falcons Trash Museum (of Trash)” at the Junior Center of Art and Science at Lakeside Park through March 6. The falcons also teamed up with Cybele Gerachis, the center’s executive director, for a second exhibit at the space, “What We Sow.” For that installation, on display through April 10, nine volunteers transformed a collection of flotsam found by the falcons into whimsical sculptures. The installation also includes a selection of black and white photographs of the group’s cleanups, a trash zine, and other art work.
Volunteers with the Trash Falcons have gathered every Sunday morning since 2020 to pick up trash around the lake and along Grand Avenue. A pair of bandmates, Richard Shirk and Dana Berry founded the group during pandemic lockdown as a way to spend time together outdoors. In the years since, the group has expanded — to 50 volunteers in 2022, and 100 as of this year.
Since the group’s inception, the Trash Falcons estimate that their volunteers have collected 15.6 tons of trash, averaging 20 pounds every time they meet for a cleanup…