Teams of Kansas architects, engineers and contractors will display their structures they created using cans of food Saturday, May 31. 


Harvesters’ first Topeka Canstruction event will take place at the Mulvane Art Museum. Canstruction is an international program of the Society of Design Administration that challenges teams to design and build huge, creative sculptures made only from canned food and other non-perishable food items. The display will be free and open to the public during the museum’s regular hours through July 27.

Sculptures will be judged in the categories of Best Meal, Structural Integrity, Best Use of Labels, Jurors’ Favorite and Honorable Mention. Winners will be announced at the reception June 6. Once the exhibit is installed, the public will have the opportunity to vote online for the People’s Choice Award. Each vote will include a $1 donation to Harvesters. Because Harvesters can provide five meals with for every $1 donated, every vote counts. The winning structures will be entered into a national competition, which will be selected and honored at the Society of Design Administration’s annual meeting.

When the exhibit closes, the cans are donated to Harvesters. Harvesters’ Canstruction has provided more than 324,000 meals to feed the hungry during the last 13 years.

“We are excited to be holding our first Canstruction event in Topeka and salute the Mulvane Art Museum and the participating teams for partnering with us to raise the community’s awareness about the hunger issue,” said Valerie Nicholson-Watson, president and CEO of Harvesters. “Canstruction is one of our most fun events, and we hope that everyone will visit the museum and see these amazing structures.” 


A reception for Canstruction will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m., June 6, in the Mulvane Art Museum. The reception will also be the kick-off for the Mulvane’s Annual Art Fair, which will take place June 7 and 8 on campus.

Participating teams to date include: Treanor Architects, PA; HTK Architects; Tevis Architects; Bartlett and West Engineers; Architect One, PA, and American Institute of Architecture Student Chapter from K-State. With the exception of the K-State AIA Chapter, all of the teams are from Topeka.