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Sustainable packaging company BioPak has teamed up with Open Canvas to launch a series of coffee cup designs by artists who have faced homelessness or other adversity.

The Melbourne-based philanthropic organisation will have six of its artists’ work featured across BioPak’s compostable coffee cup range, the BioCup Art Series.

Open Canvas founder Dan Rath said they were pleased to be partnering with an environmentally-friendly coffee cup producer who can help turn the stereotypes of homelessness on its head.

“For a long time, coffee cups and homelessness have only been linked through the visions of a homeless person begging for spare change,” he said.

“The BioPak Art Series coffee cups will allow our artists to showcase their work to a national audience in a unique way.”

BioPak founder Richard Fine said the company seeks artists with environmental themes at their core and was proud to support the arts community through the BioPak Art Series.

“The cups feature art that looks at sustainability issues, from what is involved in building a house, to the beauty of Australian bush flowers or the urban environment,” he said.

“We know that the cups will engage coffee drinkers across the country with this changing series.”

The six Open Canvas artists featured on the BioPak Art Series are:
Brian Marshall’s Otway Coastline
Renata Bruynzeel’s Weedy Sea Dragons
David Parkinson’s Birds
Irene Hwang’s Feathers
Patrick Francis’s Hawk
Charmaine Tracey’s Desert Dreaming

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