Old Pointe Shoes Get an Artistic Makeover

Ever wonder what the heck to do with that pile of old pointe shoes you’re sick of staring at in your closet but too sentimental to throw in the garbage? Here’s some inspiration, courtesy the Cary Ballet Company of Cary, NC: Make them into a fabulous art project.

To be fair, CBC’s 60-odd pairs of shoes were never used; they’re actually shoes that didn’t meet the company dancers’ requirements, and so had languished, untouched, in an inventory room for 10 years. Rather than tossing them, CBC teamed up with the Cary Creative Reuse Center and the Fine Arts League of Cary to create The Ballet Shoe Project. They recruited 29 artists—age 8 to old-enough-not-to-tell-their-age—to decorate 164 shoes. Then they strung the bedecked shoes heel-to-toe to create a pretty amazing pointe shoe curtain, which will make its public debut at the Cary Ballet Conservatory this Saturday.

Take a look!

All photos by Andrew Kenney for
The Cary News

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