Cleanup gets a can-do attitude

COSTA MESA — Pat Conlon remembers how bad litter can get at Estancia High School. The 2006 graduate often stepped past trash on his way to class, and a number of his schoolmates got assigned to cleanup duty when they stepped out of line.

“When I went to Estancia, they made you pick up trash if you were late to class, because the trash was so bad,” Conlon said.

Now, the OCC student is helping to clean up his alma mater. eVocal, the Westside boutique and gallery where Conlon works, has started a project in which professional artists paint metal cans and situate them around the Estancia grounds to give students a readily visible place to deposit trash.

The boutique presented its first painting session Saturday afternoon and plans to begin delivering the cans to Estancia next week.

eVocal has already contributed a number of cans to Newport Harbor High School and hopes to provide them to parks and other public places after completing the Estancia project. The boutique’s artists have started work on 15 cans for the Costa Mesa school and aim to decorate the campus with 40 total.

“It’s to promote the artists and to promote awareness for picking up trash,” said eVocal owner Brett Walker, who plans to rotate the cans around campus to give his painters maximum exposure.

The designs, created by artists who have featured their work at eVocal, include both spray paint and brush techniques and often incorporate slogans such as “Stash your trash” and “Keep it in the can.”

One of the artists painting behind eVocal Saturday was Jesse Miller, a multimedia artist who has a show on display in the gallery. Miller’s work involves media ranging from canvas to wood to leaded glass — but until Saturday, he had never painted a trash can before.

“This is my first can,” Miller said. “I’m just getting the feel of it. I don’t use much spray paint, so I’m just trying to make it work.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.