They’re all pieces of Tim Gaudreau’s trash; they’re all featured in individual photos; and they’re all plastered on the back room walls of the George Marshall Store Gallery.

Eco-artist Gaudreau was chosen as the recipient of the 2005 New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant - which means his work is now $30,000 richer. The Old York Historical Society’s gallery began its 2006 exhibition season Saturday with "Momentum IV," featuring work by Gaudreau and the eight finalists.

Among the finalists are five photographers, Nancy Grace Horton, Barbara Rita Jenny, Scott Kuckler, Douglas Prince and Alexandra de Steiguer; and three painters, Sean Beavers, Sherry Palmer and Kim Bernard.

A reception for the artists was held Saturday evening at the gallery - which quickly filled to no-elbow-room capacity.

"Tonja in the Kitchen," by artist Nancy Grace Horton is one of the many art features seen at the George Marshall Store Gallery in York. Photo by Amy Root-Donle

Last year, 51 artists from 24 communities submitted artwork and proposals for the fourth annual grant, and two independent juries reviewed the submissions.

In their deliberations, Molly Colman of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation said jurors consider who the grant will have the biggest impact on.

"It’s about trying to help someone move ahead, make the leap," Colman said.

Their choice of Gaudreau - a finalist last year - had a lot to do with the perception that this is his hour.

"A lot of time, it’s the timing," Colman said. "He was really able to present a vision of what he wanted to do. A lot of things are coming together for him."

What’s coming together for Gaudreau now is increased exposure for his eco-art - "conceptual art to raise consciousness about the environment."

Like the pictures lining the back walls, called "Self-Portrait as Revealed by Trash: 365 days of photographing everything I threw out." From April 2004 to May 2005, Gaudreau did just that, collecting 5,000 images - including recycled items, since they, too, add to the waste stream.

"I found out so many things about myself I didn’t expect," he said.

He considers himself an ecologically conscious consumer and was surprised to see the amount of stuff he threw out - much of it being convenience food packaging and plastic bottles. He came to hate plastic and started cutting back wherever he could.

"Self-Portrait" was created for this exhibit, which continues through June 4, but he is still in the early stages of his grant period - after spending a few weeks simply in shock.

"It’s one thing to imagine what you would do with $30,000," he said. "It’s real and so big - you don’t want to squander it."

Following what he established in his proposal, Gaudreau is continuing to do public work, speaking to groups in workshops and traveling nationally in the eco-art network.

"One of the big things is I’ve been invited to and inserted into a dialogue about (creating) environmentally responsible art," he said.

Meanwhile, in the main room of the gallery, reception visitors admire the finalists’ work. One woman explains photography composition to a friend, pointing to the crest of a wave in Alexandra de Steiguer’s "Sea Smoke and Wave."

"Your focus goes here," she says.

Another woman pauses before Douglas Prince’s "Magnolia," a digital color print on canvas, turning to her male companion.

"Isn’t that beautiful?" she says.

And through it all, Scott Kuckler wanders the room.

"Some I really like, some I don’t," he says of his fellow finalists’ work.

This was the first year the photographer applied for the grant.

"I wanted to experiment with other alternative photography mediums," he said.

He calls his work "photographic Rorschach tests."

"Everyone sees something different than you do," Kuckler said. "I like that. It’s the part of my work I’m most proud of."

For his part, Gaudreau said he is pleased to be in such good company.

"I’m proud to be part of this group of artists who are doing great work," he said. "I got the award this time, but each of them deserved it."