♻️ Hardware Hackers: 17th Annual TrashedArt Contest + iCode Engineering! 🎨⚙️
Event: 17th Annual TrashedArt Contest Reception
When: Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Where: Mercer County Library – Lawrence Headquarters Branch (2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ)
Event link: MCLS TrashedArt Contest
Who it’s for: Teens (Ages 14+) and Adults
Why we love it 💛 One person’s trash is an engineer’s treasure! In celebration of Earth Day, the Mercer County Library System is hosting the reception for its incredible 17th Annual TrashedArt Contest. Patrons have been challenged to build, sculpt, and create stunning pieces of art using at least 75% recycled, repurposed, and “trashed” materials. During this reception, attendees can view the incredible creations, vote for the “People’s Choice” awards, and celebrate the winners! We absolutely love this community challenge because it forces creators to look at everyday objects differently, relying purely on their imagination, spatial reasoning, and structural engineering to build something beautiful out of scrap.
How this event aligns with iCode Princeton 🌈⚙️ Taking old components and finding a brand-new way to use them is the exact definition of “Hardware Hacking”!
-
The Maker Mindset: When you build a sculpture out of recycled cardboard, plastics, and metals, you have to experiment with weight, balance, and different adhesives. The trial-and-error prototyping seen in these art pieces is the exact same “Maker Mindset” we foster in our STEAM Junior and Robotics labs!
-
Hardware & Robotics: If your teen loves piecing together recycled parts to make something new, they will absolutely thrive in our VEX Robotics Track! We teach students how to transition from upcycled crafts to real mechanical engineering, constructing sturdy chassis, connecting complex motors, and understanding physics to build their own functional machines.
Join the fun—then keep the momentum going at iCode 🎒🚀 Celebrate environmental engineering at the library, then bring that world-changing imagination to iCode Princeton where we turn big ideas into real-world tech skills!
👉 Explore iCode Princeton: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj
🟣 Progression-based Belts (K–12): https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/belts/
🔍 See what’s running now: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/activity-finder/
🎟️ Ready to build the future? Book a Free Trial Class: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/book-a-free-trial-class/
