EXTRAS: Extras for Creative
Reuse
Many of you know that this year long project has multiple goals,
to increase and give form to my own creativity, to be productive daily in an artistic
form, and to use the materials that I have been collecting, gathering and housing
for more than 10 years. Yes, 10 years. Where, you might wonder, did these materials
come from? In 2004 I was introduced to an amazing non-profit organization named
EXCL (extras for creative learning) in Dorchester, MA, currently named EXTRAS (extras
for creative reuse) located in Lynn, MA. This organization salvages (pick up in
a truck) materials from companies that would ordinarily be placed in a landfill,
good clean art materials (if you can expand the definition of what you understand
to be an art material – which is what art therapists and art educators are especially
good at doing, and perhaps you –even if you are neither). EXTRAS has been incredibly
inspiring and each of my handmade books has at least one or more material that came
from EXTRAS from over the years. I don’t know if I can express how exciting it is
to go to their warehouse and see bins, barrels and stacks of potential art materials!
Additionally, the mission to keep useable and often beautiful materials out of the
landfill is wonderfully motivating as well. Check out their website and blog below.
If you are local consider becoming a member- very inexpensive for a wide variety
of materials that change and flow and get replenished. Truly it’s a mixed media
artists dream come true.
“Extras is a clearinghouse that recovers tons of material
from being burned or thrown away and redistributes it for creative educational
use. You won’t believe all the amazing supplies and products we have available
every time you visit. This isn’t junk, it’s terrific materials of all sorts.”
“Our mission is to stimulate creative learning and help
children awaken their creative potential in education and play through the use
of reusable, recycled, and surplus material.”
Quotes from EXTRAS website.
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