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                

-Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse          

Los Angeles               

-reDiscover at Smart Space      

-Trash for Teaching, Inc                           

Mountain View          

-FabMo                           

Oakland                     

-East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse   

Palo Alto                      

-The ReARt Store at Whole House Building Supply
Redwood City
-RAFT--Main 2

Riverside                    

-Riverside Arts and ReUse Exchange         
Roseville  
-ReCREATE                 

Sacramento                  

-RAFT--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                          

-Teacher's Universe

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              

-Materials for the Arts Program

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                 

-Everyone's Resource Depot     

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                         

-Arts & Scraps   

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                       

-Artscrap Resource Center (Art Start)

MISSOURI  

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                       

-Resource Warehouse & Gallery

NEW MEXICO   

Albuquerque              

-Wemagination

NEW YORK        

New York                  

-SHHHH Salvage Projects
Queens                                  

-Materials for the Arts     

 OHIO                 

Cincinnati                  

-Crayons to Computers
Columbus                   

-Waste Not Center
Toledo                        

-Scrap4Art       

OKLAHOMA      

Oklahoma City          

-Save it for Art 

OREGON           

Eugene                      

-MECCA           

Portland                                 

-SCRAP: The School and Community Reuse Action Project

PENNSYLVANIA   

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

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Support your community’s art and recycling movement! 

(As always, linking to this post is more than permissible.)