Christine Saari's "Cigar Box Shrines" exhibit to open TONIGHT, Sept. 4, at Community Arts Center

Canoe full of Roses, a Cigar Box Shrine by artist Christine Saari, is part of her exhibit opening with a reception tonight, Sept. 4, at the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock. (Photo courtesy Copper Country Community Arts Center)

HANCOCK -- The Copper Country Community Arts Center will host "Cigar Box Shrines," a recycling project by Christine Saari, who will give a gallery talk at the opening reception for the exhibit to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. TONIGHT, Wednesday, Sept. 4.

"Like much of my work, this project is about creating something new from something old, recycling 'stuff' I have kept for years," Saari says. "This project started in 2012, when a friend gave me a few cigar boxes while I was going through accumulated materials in my studio. As I worked, I realized I was making little shrines, honoring other artists' work as well as gifts that had been sitting around for years, little noticed -- giving these objects new life."

More than 50 Cigar Box Shrines will be included in this exhibit, promising to be a rich spectacle of treasured items showcased by Christine's sensitive and whimsical imagination.

The exhibit, in the Kerredge Gallery, will continue through Sept. 28.