Wine corks are not something to be discarded, or dismissed as unimportant, not to artist Scott Gundersen, or to those who make a living from producing wine stoppers from cork.

The significance of wine corks was on display at a special reception last week in south Napa County, where winemakers and art lovers gathered to see and hear about Gundersen’s artwork, which wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for cork.

Until a few years ago, Gundersen was living in obscurity in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The high school art teacher wasn’t well known except by his students, his family and coworkers.

But then Gundersen got an idea for creating a different kind of art, after he took a trip to Africa.

“Nine years ago, my wife and I were traveling through Africa visiting some friends,” Gundersen told those at the reception, held at Amorim Cork America off Devlin Road. “We would go through villages and markets and see how local artisans would repurpose everyday materials that we would throw away, like plastic bottles or paper magazines.”