Made from more than 1,200 cans of food, a sculpture of a mythical yeti doing its best Homer Simpson impersonation has appeared at North Star Mall, where it is helping raise money for the San Antonio Food Bank.
Created by a Southwest Research Institute team, the sculpture puts a twist on the popular meme that has the animated "d'oh!"-nut addict slowly disappearing into a bush. Here, Homer has been replaced by a denizen of the Himalayan mountains, also known as the Abominable Snowman. Titled "The Yeti Reveals Himself to Can Hunger," it is one of seven sculptures that local firms have designed and built from food cans for Canstruction, the long-running food bank fundraiser.
All seven sculptures built on Sunday will be on display throughout the mall through Sept. 26.
Coordinated by the San Antonio chapters of the Society for Design Administration and the American Institute of Architects, this is the 19th year that the design-build competition has taken place at North Star. It is one of the food bank's annual Hunger Action Month events promoting awareness and support for hunger relief.
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In addition to the Southwest Research Institute, the 2026 Canstruction features teams from Ford, Powell & Carson, HDR & Joeris General Contractors, Luna Architecture, RVK Architecture, San Antonio College and Merrick & Co.
"We chose our theme because the institute is known for having a tree boundary around its perimeter," explained Will Hayes, manager of the SwRI's facilities capital improvement group. "People are always curious about what we do here."
Replacing Homer with a yeti made further sense because the hairy, apelike creature serves as an unofficial mascot at the institute.
"We have yeti stuff all over the place here," Hayes said. "There are stickers, life-size cutouts and yeti-based events. We just Simpsonified the mascot."
The sculpture consists of 1,273 cans, including cans of green beans, peas and carrots for the shrubs and hominy for the yeti's fur.
More than a fundraiser, Canstruction is also a good-natured competition, with entries judged in six categories.
This year's winners, announced Monday evening, are:
Best Meal: "Can Antonio Mystery Inc." by HDR & Joeris General Contractors
Best Use of Labels: "LiliPad" by Merrick & Co.
Best Structural Design: "Beacon of Inspiration" by Luna Architecture
Best Original Design: "CANdalorian" by RVK Architecture
Most Cans: "Can Antonio Mystery Inc." by HDR & Joeris General Contractors, with 7,200 cans
Best Use of Orange: "The Giving Piñata" by San Antonio College
Orange is the official color of Hunger Action Month, observed each September.
Local business and community leaders served as jurors. The winners were announced during the Can-Opener Awards Ceremony at North Star Mall, emceed by "Texas Eats" host David Elder.
One award remains undecided. The public can vote on the People's Choice Award using the QR code at the mall. The winner to be announced Sept. 28.
After the sculptures are disassembled, the cans will be donated to the San Antonio Food Bank. Over the years, the competition has donated more than 600,000 pounds of food.
"We just want to thank San Antonio for a tradition that says no one should go hungry here in our community," Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, said in a news release.
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This article originally published at Canstruction: 'Simpsonified' SwRI mascot helps fight hunger.