October 7, 2022 - Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation and Riverfront Fort Wayne are happy to announce a beautiful partnership with Sammie Vance of Sammie’s Buddy Bench notoriety. The online auction features five eye-catching 62x48 inch murals made from over 5,000 total recycled plastic bottle caps and which display themes of Friendship, Inspiration, a rainbow, colorful flowers and Love. The murals together or individually would brighten and influence any indoor space, especially at an office, community space, storefront or school. This project grows from previous projects with Vance and Riverfront Fort Wayne such as Caps for a Cause and Sundays on the Riverfront. Proceeds will benefit Inclusion Programming such as sensory and multi-cultural educational events.

Riverfront Fort Wayne’s Program and Events Manager Riley Hollenbaugh noted “collaborative projects like this one celebrate a respect for the environment, the desire of young people to make a difference, and our community’s incredible support. This is an example of the special place that Riverfront Fort Wayne aspires to be for everyone.”

Bidding is accessed online at https://riverfrontfw.org/mural-auction/. Increments are by one dollar or more. Final bids will be accepted on Wednesday, November 30.

All five murals are handmade from wood and recycled bottle caps. Each weigh approximately 60 pounds.

  • FRIENDS mural
    1. 1,034 recycled bottle caps
    2. This mural was assembled by members of the community during a Riverfront Fort Wayne program called Caps for a Cause
  • INSPIRE mural
    1. 721 recycled bottle caps
    2. Featured “Operation Awesome.”
  • Rainbow mural
    1. 1,702 recycled bottle caps
    2. 1st cap mural designed by Sammie Vance in January of 2020
    3. This mural was assembled by members of the community during a Riverfront Fort Wayne winter program called Sundays on the Riverfront
  • Colorful Flowers mural
    1. 900 recycled bottle caps
    2. This mural was assembled by members of the community during a Riverfront Fort Wayne program called Caps for a Cause
  • LOVE mural
    1. 802 recycled bottle caps
    2. Featured on “Operation Awesome.”

Vance began creating sketches for the artwork in early 2020. Murals were assembled by Vance and members of the community at Riverfront Fort Wayne events. BYU Broadcasting featured Vance and the Bottle Cap Murals in season one, episode five of Operation Awesome, titled “Kindness Counts”. It is available to watch online free of charge,https://www.byutv.org/669d5f54-5538-48a0-b957-8e2be7e12a24/operation-awesome-kindness-counts

To learn more, visit RiverfrontFW.org and Sammiesbuddybenchproject.com.