Clark Nexsen/Wells Fargo Team a Double Winner at Southwest Virginia Canstruction Event

Clark Nexsen teamed up with Wells Fargo for the latest Feeding America of Southwest Virginia‘s Canstruction event in Roanoke, Virginia. Using downtown Roanoke as a theme, the team’s “A Can Do City” sculpture took home the honors in two categories, receiving the Best Use of Labels Award and Most Cans Used Award. The sculpture used more than 8,300 cans.

WSLS Reporter Taj Simmons spoke with Clark Nexsen Designer, Zakiya Toney, and Pam O’Neal from Wells Fargo about the event. “We didn’t think anything was impossible,” Zakiya told the reporter. “We just wanted to go for the biggest and best thing that we could produce.”

The creative process began last fall when Clark Nexsen forged a partnership with Wells Fargo for the 2019 Canstruction competition. After several brainstorming sessions, Zakiya took stock of the ideas, coming up with the “A Can Do City” design.  The sculpture showcases Downtown Roanoke with local landmarks like the Wells Fargo Tower, Market Square, and the Carilion building, where Clark Nexsen’s Roanoke office is located.

This year’s Canstruction SWVA build day was March 1 with winning sculptures announced the following day at the Taubman Museum of Art. An exhibit of the finished sculptures is open to the public and on display until March 17. When the exhibit closes, the constructions will be dismantled with all cans going to Feeding America Southwest Virginia for distribution to people throughout the region facing hunger. The six participating teams raised funds to purchase more than 20,000 cans of food at discounted prices from Kroger.

Since 1992, Canstruction events have raised nearly 70 million pounds of food for local hunger relief organizations. Each year, volunteers participate in events in more than 150 cities around the world.

Watch the full story from NBC station WSLS 10: