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If you go:

What: 2009 Art Encore Crea-TABLES with a live and silent auction, hors d'oeuvres and live music.

When: Oct. 31 from 7 to midnight

Where: Humboldt Fairgrounds

Cost: Tickets are $10 and $15 at the door.

For more information about participating or attending, visit the Humboldt Area Arts Council Web site at www.artsinhumboldt.com or contact committee Chairwoman Kris Christensen by phone at 408-0357 or email krchristensen@yahoo.com.

GOLDFIELD - Aluminum pop cans crinkle under your fingers when you touch Sarah Rasmussen's table top.

Vibrant colors and logos cover the original wood top.

She refurbished the furniture with Andy Warhol in mind and hopes her creation will sell well at the Humboldt Area Arts Council auction Halloween night.

"Warhol is my favorite pop culture artist. His Marilyn Monroe prints are so simple and creatively fun," said Rasmussen, a freshman at Humboldt High School.

So when she saw a table made of tin in an airport, Rasmussen channeled her artistic hero.

With pop as her transformative medium, Rasmussen selected each beverage, not for its flavor, but its design.

After consuming, cleaning and cutting, Rasmussen arranged the pieces, smoothed edges and secured them. For a final touch, she attached pop caps as drawer handles.

"It's literally pop art," Rasmussen said.

This is the fourth year the Arts Council has encouraged local creators like Rasmussen to make art for auction.

"The first year was Pull Up a Chair," Lisa Rasmussen, Sarah's mother and Art Council member, said. "We provided people with a chair that was essentially junk, and they made pieces of art."

Other themes include "It's About Time" and "Light Up Your Imagination." This year creators focused on tables.

The premise is simple. Find a bargain table at a thrift store and transform it. Functionality not required.

"We always had around 20 people make something (for the auction)," Lisa Rasmussen said. "Now, we're seeing upwards of 30 people."

The whole Rasmussen family - immediate and extended - created a table for this year's auction. Lisa's husband, Kevin Rasmussen, wanted to keep his metal table secret.

"It's a 42-inch-tall cocktail or pub table," Kevin Rasmussen said, "but it's a secret. No one can see it until the auction."

While Kevin Rasmussen manipulated alloys, Lisa Rasmussen is still planning her table.

"I've had it for three years," Lisa Rasmussen said. "It's in the shape of a paint palette. The bones are there; it's just not done yet."

Even Lisa and Kevin Rasmussen's parents, LeRoy and Susan Witzel and Jerry Rasmussen, tapped into their creativity.

"What we have going is really exciting for the people involved," Lisa Rasmussen said. "The arts council is a good program to be involved with even if you're not an artist.

"For example, my dad collects antiques, and the table he made this year is really cool, but he doesn't think anything of it. It was just something he did to support us."

Amateur and kids' creations are welcomed. Kevin Rasmussen said even though it's grandma and grandpa buying their grandchild's work of art, it's beneficial.

"It's really cool because that positive reinforcement builds self-esteem in the kids," Kevin Rasmussen said. "And the auctions are always a lot of fun.

And essentially unique, since people use wood, glass, cell phones, fabrics, clocks, tools, cogs, paint, books and lights, no material is turned away.

The pop table already won Sarah Rasmussen accolades in 4-H. She won a blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair and a recycling award for the fair's Go Green initiative.

"I'm glad to donate it to the auction," Sarah Rasmussen said. "I'm interested to see how it does."

Area residents with creative inclinations can still construct and donate tables for the art auction. The tables need to be sent to Rustix Oct. 5 between 5 and 7 p.m., and an artist's reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 6 at Rustix in Humboldt.

"Some of the best creations are made spur of the moment," Kevin Rasmussen said.

Contact Lindsey Ory at (515) 573-2141 or lindsey@messengernews.net.