Recycled Art Market
Grand Rapids City High / Middle School
Saturday November 7th
9am - 3pm
. r e c y c l e + r e u s e = a r t .
In the spirit of City High / Middle's Economicology program, the school PTSA is sponsoring the 1st annual Recycled Art Market. Don’t miss this chance to shop for unique, innovative, and handmade gifts for the upcoming holidays! A truly remarkable collection of artists who incorporate recycled materials in their work. Click on a market contributor at left to view samples, or scroll down to learn more about the artist's work.
Admission is $1 per person. Email the City PTSA for more information or to learn how you can get involved!
Grand Rapids City High / Middle School is located at 1400 Fuller Ave NE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Get directions and a map at Google Maps, or call the school directly at 616-819-2380.
Featured Contributors
A Little Something Extra
"I make wind chimes from old silver tea pots and silverware." - Irene Morris
all jane's
"Created from recycled sweaters, these eco-friendly creatures are sure to make you smile. Squeezably soft with no buttons or strings to swallow, they're safe for children and adults alike. Their sweet, devious, or confused expressions will warm your heart and hug you back. Don't forget to try a matching hat!" - Jane Kropewnicki
Website: www.alljanes.etsy.com
Alternate Endings
"Almost all of my materials are recycled. I sew purses out of mens ties and I use men's shirts for the lining. The handles are the narrow end of the ties and sometimes I use the wide ends for a little flap. I've made a few purses out of placemats that I really like. My most popular item though has been the bags I make out of pillowcases. It's just a pillowcase and thread fashioned into a bag that can carry books messenger style or you tie a knot in the handle and carry it like a tote bag. I have also diversifed a little and made children's aprons out of towels. If I have the time I will me making some adult versions for seniors that are in nursing homes to use to keep clothing clean at meal time. I also have a few purses made out of girls skirts with pillowcases for the handles. The basis for everything I make is recycled and comes from thrift stores, garage sales, my closet or friend's closets. Of course thread, some interfacing and occassionally the perfect purse handle are purchased new. I try to incorporate recycled materials into my display as well. Right now I am painting some louvered doors I bought at Habitat for Humanity ReStore to use to hang purses. If that goes well I'm going to try and paint a clothes rack I bought at a garage sale." - Daphne Anderson
Website: www.AlternateEnding.etsy.com
five feet tall
"We are a mother and daughter team from Grand Rapids with interest in both textiles and paper goods. We love the challenge of taken materials that are seemingly old and useless and finding a new purpose for it. Our mittens are made from recycled sweaters. The wool is felted down and lined with fleece-making these mittens incredibly warm. We also salvage scraps of chenille from loom weaving to make to make scarves that are both soft and elegant. More recently we've become interested in recycling paper materials from magazines, ads, packaging, cards, etc, to make notebooks. It's great to be able to take an item of trash an give it a new life." - Danny and Jenny Lynn
Website: www.fivefeettall.etsy.com
Flying Pig Salvaged Metal Art
"Nine years ago my wife gave me a book as a present that was about Salvaged Garden Art. One of the projects in the book was flying pigs made from disposable metal tanks (30 lb. Freon) and other salvaged metal. I had all of the materials and tools at my regular job as a journeyman boiler operator for a large office furniture manufacture here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had already made a few things for my yard, but I had never thought of them as art. My first flying pig was enjoyed by all that saw it, and most people would say, ”you should sell your pigs”. My first ever attempt to sell my wares was an Arts and Craft show five years ago at the John Ball Zoo. I had made two regular ground pigs and one flying pig. All were sold within the first few minutes of the show, and I had an order to make more. That was my one and only show that year, but I did three or four A&C shows the next year and with each passing show my art got better and so did my confidence. I had been asked to show my art at the Fulton Street Artist Market each Sunday. From there I was asked to do the 2007 Portside Art Fair in East Jordan, MI which was my first real juried fine art show. I won an honorable mention! My art has been covered in the Grand Rapids Press News Paper on a couple of occasions, plus the Muskegon Chronicle.
"The 2008 season was my best season yet with an invitation to sell my art at the Gallery on Main, Bay Harbor, MI.
"Flying pigs are my best seller; however, they are just one of the many creatures I find in my scrap pile. I make fish and frogs from shovels, and birds. Chickens, turtles and the occasional duck can be found in the scrap pile. Last year I found an 8 point buck in the pile and a few dragons too. More of my creatures can be seen on my website below." - Bill Morris
Website: www.flickr.com/photos/flyingpigsalvagedmetalart/
Forrest Concepts Recycled Journals
"We take old hardcover books that were going to be thrown away to begin with and recycle them into handmade recycled journals." - Butch & Sarah Cash
Green Creations by Shelly
"I make handmade items from 'plarn' (plastic bag yarn). I also use old CD's, milk caps, tape holder inserts and VCR tape." - Shelly Timmer
Heather's Crafts
"I make dolls, stuffed animals, anatomical and insect pillows using fabric bound for a landfill. I use old shirts, pants, curtains, basically anything that can be re-used. If the fabric isn't exactly what I want, I manipulate it (i.e. paint or dye) to suit." - Heather Weathers
Website: www.flickr.com/photos/heatherweathers/
Heather Robinson Studio / Greenbeads
"The beaded pieces, Greenbeads, are made from strips of recycled magazines that I make by cutting pages into long strips, roll, then seal for durability. I combine my beads with sterling silver, and quality stone beads. The rings and pendants are made using a cone 6 porcelain, the color in these pieces comes from crushed found glass that I collected from the Kalamazoo River." - Heather Robinson
Website: www.paperpeacock.etsy.com
Logic System Labs
"I find all sorts of items along the road when I walk, car parts, discarded furniture, cans, bolts broken toys, broken signs, pieces of buildings being torn down... etc.
"I bring them all home and let them tell me what to do with them. Some pieces are already shaped like things, and some need a little help. Generally I'll pull from my pile and fashion them into something new again. I've turned trash into flowers, robots, faces, people, skulls, politicians, (and political statements) fish, birds and much much more. I also will paint on found wood, and discarded furniture, sometimes layering more pieces upon them.. My work is about as endless as the things that I find." - Joel Howell
Website: facebook.com/logicsystemlabs
M.S. Creations
"I create recycled glass serving platers / candle holders and garden sculptures." - Melissa Symanski
Past Perfection
"I fill vintage tea cups and old art-glass ashtrays with eco-friendly soy wax. The teacups are all used, orphaned and out of production. Destined for an eternity in the back of Grandmas cupboard is almost as bad as spending eternity in a landfill! So, I search out these wayward receptacles with an eye toward unique shapes, cool colors and hand painted craftsmanship. Same with the art glass ashtrays; they get no respect these days (as ashtrays) but fill them with fresh scented soy wax and they become a conversation piece on your coffee table!" - Brooke Ann Kunkel
Website: www.PASTPERFECTED.etsy.com
Runaway Creations
"Recycled wine bottles created into serving trays and humming bird feeders. We have wine bottle, flatten them and then decorate them with beads and copper wire. We also include a serving utensil that is decorated to match the serving tray. No two serving trays are ever the same. They all fire differently and are decorated to match the way they fire. Our humming bird feeders are also made out of recycled bottles,some with the labels and others without. " - Norma & Dharma Aguilar
Email: runawaycreations@yahoo.com
Sarah J. Roemer Handmade Recycled
"My purses, belts and bracelets are made from 100% post-consumer recycled aluminum beverage (beer and pop) can pull tabs. I purchase them from a local scrap metal recycling facility. Individuals save the tabs from their beverages, and donate them to local charities such as the Ronald McDonald house and the Lions Club. The charities in turn sell them to the scrap yard as a fundraiser. After purchasing the tabs from the scrap yard, I wash them, sort them, and bind them together to construct a sort of mesh that resembles chain mail." - Sarah Roemer
Website: www.sjroemer.etsy.com
Scheildesign
"We bend bowls in other styles as well, but these are our most popular "looks". Our bowls are 100% up-cycled/recycled (the records are retrieved from bargain bins and trash and are almost always in non-playable condition when we get them). When possible (depending on the condition of the record sleeve and the final outcome of the shaping process), we recycle the sleeves into gift boxes for the bowls -- the bowl and sleeve go together to make a unique gift. All that is added to our product is a little glue to hold the boxes together." - Christopher Scheil
Email: amysaladino@hotmail.com
Website: scheildesign.com
Stonescapes Garden Keepers
"I make Garden Art and sculpture out of Artisan Cement, a formula I developed several years ago, and tested and registered last year. It tests at 3200 psi (sidewalks need to be 3300 psi to pass muster) so most items are winter hardy in Michigan. They do not need to be brought in. Stone dust replaces the sand and aggregates. Stone dust is a post-manufactured waste product headed to the landfill. I make all my own molds, usually in clay first, the pour, hatch, recarve and articulate each piece.
"My work is based on religion, myth and storytelling. Almost all my pieces have a story, a reason for being, and I encourage folks to uncover their own story." - Sue Konyndyk
Website: www.stonescapesgardenkeepers.com
"The Craftinator"
"There are at least two things I will be bringing to the show. The first are sweater baskets and glassware. These are made from second hand sweaters, baskets, glassware and trim that I have either purchased from yard sales or second hand stores or have been given to me. Some of them were even found in the free boxes at yard sales! The only thing that is not recycled is the glue. The other items I'll have are marble magnets. These are made from second hand books that I have gotten from the same sources as the baskets. I may have other projects that I'm in the process of working on so there may be a few other things but they will also be from recycled materials." - Michele Lovell
Website: www.craftinator.etsy.com
Threads Program
"All items are made out of recycled upholstery samples from a furniture store that was going out of business. Zippers, buttons, and closures are from old clothes or from someone’s "sewing stash" that was donated to Baxter Community Center Threads Program. The Threads program is a free sewing class offered to the community. All items were sewn by the women in the program to raise money for items such as machine needles, pins, and sewing machines, etc." - Erica Millbrooks, Program Coordinator
[ XHTML Test | CSS Test ]