Apr 9, 2025 _ news

Canstruction 2025: It’s Giving Fungi

Once again, GBBN participated in the unique design competition that is Canstruction Cincinnati. Architects, engineers, and contractors from around the city create giant sculptures entirely out of canned food. The effort helps raise awareness around the work of the Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank and supports their efforts to address hunger in the community.

This year’s Canstruction sculptures were in six different locations across downtown buildings (ours is in the Weston Art Gallery) where they will be on display until April 14. Once disassembled, all cans from all sculptures are donated to the Freestore Foodbank for their food pantries.

Our theme this year, “It’s Giving Fungi,” came together in a playful, colorful sculpture that contains 4,662 cans. The team started by selecting canned goods with high nutritional value like tuna, chicken, black beans, and garbanzo beans. These ‘shrooms sport serious cantilevers; the team’s addition of whimsical gills helped taper and support these extensions. Rhino modeling, CNC milling, and laser cutting were used to help bring our build to life.

It can be easy to miss fungi quietly growing on the forest floor or at the base of towering trees. Similarly, with all the distractions of our busy lives, it can be easy to overlook the number of people facing food insecurity in Cincinnati and the region. Now more than ever, it is critical to seek out those in need, cultivate a culture of care and nourishment, and improve lives by eliminating hunger.

Our 2025 sculpture is a reminder to slow down, look around, and connect with nature and each other; to celebrate the joy of discovery; and to look purposefully for those who may be fragile, vulnerable, or struggling for stability. It reminds us to do everything we can to stop hunger from mushrooming in our community. Like fungi proliferating after a rain, hope sprouts all around us. Every donation and gesture of giving—no matter the size—can change the trajectory of someone’s life.

To learn more about the Freestore Foodbank or donate go here.