Wednesday, January 25, 2012

She's a scrappy gal, she is...

 
During my undergrad years, I used to frequent The Scrap Box in Ann Arbor. It was a fantastic place where manufacturers would donate their (clean) scrap items from their factory processes to be sold to the community. There would be bins of such things as little plastic rectangles, one inch foam circles, and orange widgety bits with peel-off adhesive backs.  Most items were sold by the mix and match fill-it-yourself bag with some items (like sheets of vinyl) sold separately. It was always a great source for cool/cheap/odd art supplies for the kids at the shelter where I worked and I’d also go looking for materials for curriculum/creative projects with friends who were occupational therapy, art, or education majors.

Since it had been several years since I’d visited The Scrap Box, I wondered if it still operated and I also wondered if there was a similar program in the Milwaukee area. The good news is that, yes, the Scrap Box is still running strong:
  (Incidentally, The Scrap Box also has a blog over at WordPress

Alas, there’s not a similar program in Milwaukee…or at least none that I could find…that offers post-industrial materials in a user-friendly setting for artists and crafters (though we DO have American Science and Surplus, which is a different flavor of awesome). There is also a Scrap Box-type program in Chicago (The Creative Reuse Warehouse via the Resource Center Chicago), which I’ll have to check out when I’m down that way.

While Milwaukee currently lacks this sort of recycling program, I found a TON of similar programs throughout North America.  Obviously what each center has can vary by region and even day-by-day, but I sure that they’re all well worth checking out for great repurposable art parts.

ALABAMA            
Mobile                        
-GRCMA-The Resource Place 

ARIZONA            
Tempe                        
-Treasures for Teachers 

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver
-Urban Source

CALIFORNIA  
Long Beach                
Los Angeles               
-Trash for Teaching, Inc                           
Mountain View          
-FabMo                           
Oakland                     
Palo Alto                      
Riverside                    
-Riverside Arts and ReUse Exchange         
Roseville  
-ReCREATE                 
Sacramento                  
San Francisco             
-SCRAP (Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts)
San Jose                     
-Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT)--Main 1
Santa Barbara             
-Art from Scrap
Vacaville                    
-Center for Imaginative Reuse

COLORADO       
Boulder                      
-ArtParts Creative Reuse Center
-Center for Creative Reuse      
Colorado Springs       
-SCRAP UP
Denver                       
-RAFT--Colorado         

CONNECTICUT    
Bristol                        
-Imagine That! at the Imagine Nation Children's Museum
Hartford                      
-Scrap-it, A Creative Reuse Center

D.C                      
Washington, DC         
-SCRAP-DC   

FLORIDA         
Ft. Lauderdale                       
-Kids in Need Resource Center
-Trash to Treasure
Melbourne Beach       
-Reusable Resources Adventure Center                         
North Miami                          
-Ocean Bank Center for Eduational Materials                          

GEORGIA           
Atlanta                       
-WonderRoot Creative Reuse 
Carrollton                   
-The Scrap Bin

IDAHO               
Boise                          
-The ReUse Market

ILLINOIS           
Champaign                 
-The I.D.E.A. Store      
Chicago                      
-Creative Reuse Warehouse     

INDIANA            
Bloomington              
Franklin                      
-Creative ReSources
Hammond                  
-Hammond Recycling’s Art & Crafts ReUz Station
Indianapolis               
-Teacher's Treasures     

IOWA                
LeClaire                     
-Reusable Usables Creative Arts Center 

KANSAS              
Kansas City                
-Recycled Materials Center, Children's Museum of Kansas    

LOUISIANA        
New Orleans              
-Recycle for the Arts, a program of The Green Project           

MAINE              
Auburn                       
-SHAREcenter
Farmington                 
Scarborough               
-Ruth's Reusable Resources     

MANITOBA
Winnipeg
-ArtJunktion

MASSACHUSETTS  
Boston                        
-Recycle Shop, Boston Children's Museum
Cambridge                 
-Extras for Creative Learning (EXCL)        

MICHIGAN      
Ann Arbor                 
-The Scrap Box
Detroit                         
Grand Rapids             
-Learning from Scratch            
Lansing                     
-Creation Station          
Traverse City              
-SCRAP--Traverse City        

MINNESOTA    
Mankato                     
-Art Bin at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota
St. Paul                       
Bridgeton                   
-Kidsmart  
Crestwood                 
-St. Louis Teachers Recycle Center
St. Louis                    
-The Upcycle Exchange {Materials Market}
  
NORTH CAROLINA  
Asheville                    
-Trash , Inc.
Cary                          
-Cary Creative Center
Durham                      
-The Scrap Exchange
Hickory                       
Albuquerque              
-Wemagination

NEW YORK        
New York                  
-SHHHH Salvage Projects
Queens                                  

 OHIO                 
Cincinnati                  
-Crayons to Computers
Columbus                   
-Waste Not Center
Toledo                        
-Scrap4Art       

OKLAHOMA      
Oklahoma City          
-Save it for Art 

OREGON           
Eugene                      
-MECCA           
Portland                                 
Lancaster                    
-Lancaster Creative Reuse       
Philadelphia               
-The Resource Exchange       
Pittsburgh                   
-Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse
   
RHODE ISLAND                 
Providence                 
-Resources for RI Education  

TENNESSEE        
Nashville                    
-Turnip Green Creative Reuse

TEXAS                   
Austin                        
-Austin Creative Reuse
Denton                       
-SCRAP Denton
Houston                     
-Texas Art Asylum

VIRGINIA              
Richmond                  
-Stuff, Inc.      

WASHINGTON        
Lynnwood                 
-Creation Station
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support your community’s art and recycling movement! 
(As always, linking to this post is more than permissible.)

17 comments:

  1. The Creative Reuse Warehouse looks awesome, I'll have to visit!

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  2. How clever! Your post brought back memories of doing art projects with the kids when I worked at a safe home.

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    Replies
    1. That's exactly how I found the place years ago. =)

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  3. Wow - what a great resource tool! Very interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I try to blog about things that I'd like to read.

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  4. What a fantastic list! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Hello, New follower! great blog, came from "get promoted" Etsy team.
    http://kalalily80.blogspot.com/

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  6. Such a great idea!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I had heard rumors that there was one of these places nearby but couldn't find it. Who knew that coming to a blog from someone living Milwaukee would tell me what the scrappy place in Asheville, NC was called and how to find them.

    I've included a link to this post and the one on the Restore Art contest in this week's Tutorial Thursday post on Blog About Crafts. I realize that neither is a craft tutorial but both offer such great information for crafters that I doubt anyone will complain too much. :D

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  8. Thanks for sharing that list! I am excited to have some new places to check out.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  9. I love your Upcycled art. Thanks for the list of Links. I'm located in Illinois area. I'm glad I found you on Etsy Team Undead.

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