Art exhibits run a wide, and often eclectic, range of creative endeavors produced by some of the more imaginative members of society. Important exhibitions often deal with topics ranging from the serious to the mundane, whose message leaves viewers pondering their relationship to the art. They inspire us by giving us insight into how others view our existence, and if we're lucky, we come away a tiny bit enlightened by what we've experienced.

There are, however, the rare instances where art, artists and the public come together in a union that transcends the normal parameters of artistic expression. Now, showing at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, is such a show.

Canstruction: One CAN Build a Solution to Hunger is an ongoing 12-year project sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and its affiliate, the Society of Design Administration. The groups' mission is to make a significant contribution to helping eliminate hunger in communities across the nation. Teams from selected cities construct giant sculptures using only canned foods. The sculptures and donations of canned goods from the communities are provided to local food banks for distribution to pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers at the end of the show.

Assistant Curator of Exhibitions Deborah Gangwer said Copia first became interested in becoming a host site for Canstruction as early as 1999 when the center was still in the planning stages. Due to scheduling conflicts, however, this is the first year that both organizations' calendars allowed the exhibition to come to Napa. As the first Northern California venue to present Canstruction, Gangwer said Copia plans to make the competition an annual event.

Participants include local architects, builders, designers, engineers, student interns and in Copia's case, food related businesses. Teams are responsible for planning and erecting their sculptures out of canned foods solicited from local merchants and businesses. Each structure is a freestanding work of art made up of cans, 1/2 inch leveling cardboard, tape, rubber bands and wire. The finished pieces incorporate as few as several hundred cans, or in some cases, close to 15,000.

The current exhibition features eight teams made up of firms from San Francisco, Napa, Sacramento and Alameda. Last Thursday night during Copia's Members and Media Opening Awards event, a distinguish panel of judges led by the San Francisco Chronicle's art critic, Kenneth Baker, and architect Mark Cavagnero also of San Francisco, awarded prizes in the categories of Best Use of Labels, Best Meal, Structural Integrity, Best of Show, Member's Choice and Honorable Mentions.

All eight teams are to be commended for their ingenuity, patience and the self-sacrifice of individual team members in procuring, designing and erecting each unique sculpture. While space won't allow a detailed look at all eight pieces, there are highlights that beg for recognition.

The winner of the category for Best Meal went to the San Francisco's Hornberger + Worstell Architects & Planners. The key factor judges used in choosing the winner was the selection of products that could be used to produce a complete meal. As if that were not enough of a challenge, team members opted to replicate the 1935 painting by Diego Rivera titled "Cargador de la Vida" (Carrier of Life.) The painting depicts a peasant laborer on all fours about to stand with the aid of a coworker, while loaded with an enormous basket of flowers strapped to his back.

Using an amazing 12,000 cans of vegetables and broth, the Hornberger + Worstell team erected an incredibly life-like representation of the Mexican laborer that rises approximately nine feet above the presentation platform. Working loosely around the idea of cans as the carrier of the substance of life, the result is a visually surreal and fascinating example of art imitating, not life in this case, but art.

Structural ingenuity is of utmost importance to every entry in the exhibition. Therefore, it seems only fitting that the winner of the category would exhibit an extraordinary sense of balance and form. Alameda design firm MBH Architects' "Cantheon: Standing Strong Against Hunger," more than fills the bill as the winner of this category.

Choosing as their model the Pantheon, team members used 3,648 cans to build an incredibly accurate representation of the oldest continually used religious structure known to man. As if the sheer oddity of seeing this piece isn't enough, do yourself a favor and get down on one knee to take a peek inside the building's front portal. The attention to detail and emphasis on structural integrity used by team MBH is reflected by the interior's scale and feeling of vastness that it creates, not unlike the original.

It was left to Napa design firm, Gordon Huether & Partners Inc. to claim the night's two most coveted awards, Best of Show and Member's Choice. Huether and company used 3,936 cans of sardines to create "One Sardine Is Not Enough," a surreal cityscape with soaring urban towers accompanied by smaller outlying buildings.

Team Huether decided not to display the can's labels, but rather chose to capitalize on the shiny silver bottoms and sides of the containers to create a remarkable statement of austere beauty and simplicity that captures visitors' attention the moment they enter the gallery. Under the theme of "cityscape as a metaphor for community," "One Sardine" is a sprawling statement of interconnectivity between people and the environment in which they live, and how that association brings us all together under one banner to confront and solve problems like hunger that impact us all.

This year's contest takes on an added emphasis due to the natural disasters that have plagued both our country and the world in recent months. Relief supplies are stretched thin across the globe as countless people were left homeless from tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and other devastating natural disasters. Gangwer said Copia administrators were aware of this situation and worried the show's long schedule might cause problems for the area's needy who could use the food during the upcoming holiday season.

"Copia is working with the Napa Valley Food Bank who will receive the can goods once the show is over," Gangwer said. "We were a little concerned that the show will not be coming down until January. The food bank told us that they didn't have an immediate need for the canned goods. This will allow us the opportunity to continue collecting canned donations throughout the show."

While the show has its whimsical side, the fact that the event is a serious attempt to tackle the difficult task of eliminating hunger in our country is never far from the minds of all who view the show. A Hunger Wall is located at one end of the gallery with "hunger" written hundreds of times across its surface. As donations come into the center, the cans will be placed in front of the wall, eventually, blocking out all references to hunger by the show's end. Gangwer estimates that over the course of the exhibit, the total number of cans to be donated to the Napa Valley Food Bank will reach between 35,000 to 40,000 cans.

Canstruction events are held throughout the year at host sites across the country. What makes the Copia event unique, Gangwer said, is many of the exhibitions are held in public areas at shopping malls and in the common area of event centers. Due to the fact that Copia has a designated exhibit space to house the show, the exhibit can stay up longer, giving the community more time to contribute and be a part of helping make the can drive a success.

"Canstruction: One CAN Build a Solution to Hunger" runs through Jan. 2 in the center's upper gallery. Copia is located at 500 First St. in Napa. Hours are Wednesday through Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Tuesday). General admission is $12.50 for adults, $10 for seniors, $7.50 for students, $5 for young adults between 13-20 years, and free for children 12 years and younger (accompanied by an adult). For additional information, call 259-1600, or visit the Web site at www.copia.org.

Contact Gary Brady-Herndon at gbradyherndon@yahoo.com.

Canstruction Winners

Best Use of Labels:

"Dinner for One" by Gensler, San Francisco - 1,853 cans

Honorable Mention: "Blowing Away the Hunger Blues"" by AGC / UC Berkeley Student Chapter - 2,500 cans

Best Meal:

"Cargador de la Vita" (Carrier of Life) by Hornberger + Worstell Architects & Planners, San Francisco - 12,000 cans

Honorable Mention: "The House that CANS Built" by Food & Vine, Inc., Napa, and MCM Healthy Buildings USA, Inc., Napa - 750 cans

Structural Ingenuity:

"The Cantheon: Standing Strong Against Hunger" by MBH Architects, Alameda

Honorable Mention: "Wine Not Crush Hunger" by MCA, Napa, and Rudolph & Sletton, Inc., Sacramento - 5,230 cans

Best of Show

"One Sardine Is Not Enough" by Gordon Huether & Partners, Inc., Napa - 3,936

Members Choice :

"One Sardine Is Not Enough" by Gordon Huether & Partners, Inc., Napa - 3,936