Wherever I travel, I like to look for people doing creative reuse. Here’s my running list of people I want to meet for when I travel. The keywords I use when searching for these people are creative recycling, fiber art or folk art center, school of crafts, scrap, textile center and upcycled.
EVENTS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS
- Maker Faire – All over the world
- Renegade Craft Fair – “Indie” craft fairs
ALABAMA
- Alabama Chanin – Organic cotton design awesomeness – in Florence
ARGENTINA
- Botito Ecoguardian – Plastic robots from caps and other packaging – in Carmen
- Fabiana Gadano – jewelry from recycled plastic bottles – in Buenos Aires
AUSTRALIA
- Afloat by Recolab – Bags from up-cycled boat sails, abandoned festival tents
- Sean Avery – Animal sculptures from recycled CDs – in Perth
- Craft School Oz – Ruth Woods – craft classes, especially coiled baskets- in Amsterdam
- Ministry of Handmade – Handmade skills with a modern twist – in Brisbane
- Reverse Garbage Queensland – Creative reuse center – in Woolloongabba
- Textile Beat, Jane Milburn – Slow Clothing author, TEDx speaker – in Toowong
BRITISH COLUMBIA
- Hine Mizushima – Crafter who makes incredible felt creatures – in Vancouver
- Nadine Flagel – Rug hooking artist – in Vancouver
- Our Social Fabric – deadstock fabric rescue organization – in Vancouver
- Sans Soucie Textiles – Clothing & art from recycled hosiery by Katherine Soucie – in Vancouver
CALIFORNIA
- A Place to Grow – Greenhouses from recycled windows & building supplies – in San Luis Obispo
- Bolt Threads – Make a leather-like material from mycelium – in Emeryville
- Camp Couture – Classes to make clothing from recycled materials – in San Mateo
- Chimera Arts and Maker Space – A maker space – in Sebastopol
- Couch Guitar Straps – Guitar straps & wallets from recycled seat belts – in Long Beach
- East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse – creative reuse center – in Oakland
- The Ecology Center – Ecology activities like farm tours & community meals – in San Juan Capistrano
- FabMo – Rescue designer fabric scraps and host events for designers – in Sunnyvale
- Fallen Fruit – Mapping fruit tree locations on public lands
- Tess Felix – beach trash portrait artist – in Stinson Beach
- Maranoni – Quilter and home goods designer Lorena Marañon – in Los Angeles
- Mariana Nelson – creative reuse artists focusing on plastic, rope, thread – in Laguna Beach
- Marty Ornish – Wearable art – in San Diego
- Recology – Waste management facility artist-in-residence program – in San Francisco
- Re-Create – Thrift store & studio, children’s creative reuse programs – in Rocklin
- Rediscover Center – Connecting educators with recycled materials – in Los Angeles
- Ruth’s Table – Maker space – in San Francisco
- Scrap – The first of the “scrap” creative reuse centers – in San Francisco
CHILE
- Artenosanas – Art from recycled CDs by Vanessa Silva
COLORADO
- Green Guru Gear – Upcycled bicycle parts and climbing ropes – in Boulder
- Moore Family Folk Art – metal bottle cap and aluminum can art – in Denver
- Repurposed Materials – America’s largest industrial thrift store – in Henderson
- The Makerie – In-person and online artist retreats – in Boulder
CONNECTICUT
- KZStevens (Karen Stevens) – Fiber artist – in Kent
DENMARK
- Thomas Dambo – Wood and plastics artist – in Copenhagen – b
GERMANY
- SirPlus – Grocery store that specializes in diverting food waste – in Berlin
HAWAII
- Nurdle in the Rough, Kat Crabill – Jewelry from marine debris
- Upcycle Hawaii, Mattie Mae Larson – Wallets, jewelry, pouches from inner tubes & fused plastic – in Hilo
ILLINOIS
- Community Art Cart – encourages people to create art carts of recycled craft materials, like the Little Free Library movement – in northern Illinois
- Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange – Lots of cool resources such as urban farming – in Chicago
- Urban Growers Collective – Teaches urban farming – Will and Erika Allen – in Chicago
INDIANA
- Sayaka Ganz – a recycling artist in Fort Wayne
JAPAN
- Chinami Mori – a weaver (1000wave)
- The town of Kamikatsu – I would love to visit this town which produces almost no waste
- Natsumi Tomita – Animal and people sculptor from recycled materials
MAINE
- A Gathering of Stitches – Maker space for fiber and textile artists – in Portland
- One Woman Studio – Skirts from recycled t-shirts and other recycled fibers – in Ellsworth
- Parris House Wool Works – rug hooking artist Beth Miller in South Paris
- Weaving a Life – Susan Barrett Merrill teaches people to be weaving instructors – in Brookville
MARYLAND
- Broken Plates Pendant Company – Jewelry from broken plates – in Baltimore
- Cotton Monster, Jennifer Strunge – Monster toys from recycled clothing – in Baltimore
- In-jeen-yuhs – Creative reuse art – in Olney
- ManneqART – Wearable art contest – in Laurel
- Scrap B-More – Creative reuse center – in Baltimore
MASSACHUSETTS
- Gather Here Stitch Lounge – Maker space for fiber artists – in Cambridge
- The Beautiful Stuff Project – free materials for creative reuse by teachers & students – in Somerville
- Rubbish to Runway – a trash fashion show – in Groveland
- Sharon McCartney – Fiber artist – in Belcherville
- Swanson’s Fabric – Creative reuse store for fabric by Kathryn Swanson – in Turner Falls
MICHIGAN
- Ability Weavers – A weaving workshop – in Lowell
- Arts and Scraps – Maker space / creative reuse center – in Detroit
- Figjam Studio – Creative reuse artist Kerry Heath – in Coldwater
- Scrap Creative Reuse – Creative reuse center – in Ann Arbor
MINNESOTA
- Creative Chicks Cafe and the Old School Art Studio – Creative collaboration – in Afton
- Indigenous Food Lab – in Minneapolis
- Textile Center of Minnesota – Wonderful classes – in Minneapolis
MISSOURI
- Perennial Community Workshop using all salvaged materials – in St. Louis
NEWFOUNDLAND
- Norton’s Cove Studio – Janet Davis’ studio – Hooked rugs – in Brookfield
NEW HAMPSHIRE
- Dorr Mill Store – Source for rug hooking artists – in Newport
NEW JERSEY
- Lisa Bagwell – Plastic assemblage sculptures – in Red Bank
- dordesign – Furniture from recycled billboards – in Rumson
- Peters Valley School of Craft – Craft classes – In Layton
- Terracycle – Innovators in recycling/upcycling – in Trenton
NEW YORK
- Adirondack Folk School – Craft classes – in Lake Luzerne
- Aurora Robson – Plastic artist and teacher – in the Hudson Valley
- Ken Butler – Hybrid Luthery – makes instruments from recycled materials in Brooklyn
- Cindy Pease Roe – Sculptor who makes marine life from beach trash – in Greenport
- Crazy As A Loom – Weaving school & recycled fiber artist – in Glens Falls
- Elle.Ewaste, Marcele Godoy – Necklaces from recycled computer cables – in Brooklyn
- FabScrap – textile waste recycler in Brooklyn
- Finger Lakes Re-Use – ReUse Art Show & creative reuse center – in Ithaca
- Glenn Fischer – Geometric designs from recycled papers – in the Hudson Valley
- GrowNYC – Community events to reduce waste – in NYC
- Katrina Rodabaugh – slow fashion activist – in the Hudson Valley
- Lexy Ho-Tai – Monsters from recycled materials, community art and murals – in Queens
- Materials for the Arts – Run by the New York Department of Cultural Affairs – in NYC
- Nic Annette Miller – salmon and bats, fish market – in Brooklyn
- Textile Arts Center – Fiber classes – in Brooklyn & Manhattan
NORTH CAROLINA
- John C. Campbell Folk School – Folk art retreats – in Brasstown
- Paperhand Puppet Intervention – Giant puppets – in Saxapahaw
- Penland School of Crafts – Folk art retreats – in Penland
- Scrap Exchange – Creative reuse center – in Durham
NOVA SCOTIA
- Lunenberg Makery – Maker Space – in Lunenburg
- Martine Vermeulen – She makes collages from recycled linoleum – in Port Medway
- Trainyard Store – Artists from across Nova Scotia – in Dartmouth – Here’s my podcast episode about creative reuse in Nova Scotia.
OHIO
- Art Grange – Michelle Stitzlein, queen of plastic caps and one of my favorite artists – in Baltimore
- Indigo Hippo – Art supply creative reuse center – in Cincinnati
- Sherri Lynn Wood – Creative reuse improvisational fiber artist- in Cincinnati
- Upcycle Parts Shop – creative reuse center – in Cleveland
- Zero Landfill Cleveland – upcycling program for artists and art educators – in Cleveland
OREGON
- Dropcloth – Embroidery innovator Rebecca Ringquist – in Portland
- MECCA or Materials Exchange Center for the Creative Arts – in Eugene
- Scrap Portland – Creative Reuse Center – in Portland
PENNSYLVANIA
- Lydia Ricci – Tiny sculptures of everyday items from found objects – in Philadelphia
- Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens – Mosaics made from amazing things
- Pittsburgh’s Center for Creative Reuse – Creative reuse center – in Pittsburgh
- Resource Exchange – Creative reuse center – in Philadelphia
- Jennifer Savo – license plate art
SWEDEN
- Johanna Törnqvist – trash fashion artist, designed necklaces from blister packs
- ReTuna Återbruksgalleria – check about my podcast about this shopping mall with all recycled products
TENNESSEE
- Churp Modern, Matt Estrada – Awesome birdhouses in Murfreesboro
- Salvage Goods – amazing bags made from recycled seatbelts – in Nashville
- Turnip Green Creative Reuse – in Nashville, creative reuse center
TEXAS
- Austin Creative Reuse – Creative reuse centers – in Austin
- Texas Art Asylum – Creative reuse center – in Houston
UNITED KINGDOM
- Institute of Making – annual Festival of Stuff in the summer – in London
- Joining Bottles – Micaella Pedros uses a heat gun to melt plastic bottles so they connect pieces of wood and other items to make furniture
- Pillar Box Blue, Claire Armstrong – Upcycling crafter in Bedford
- Reclaim Bags – Made from recycled rubber by Sophie Postma
- Rehash Panache, Bee Yasko – lighting made from recycled materials – in Hebden Bridge
- Michelle Costello – Smartie Lids on the Beach – She makes art from trash she finds on the beach.
UTAH
- Clever Octopus Creative Reuse – in Murray
VERMONT
- Amy Oxford, Oxford Rug Hooking School – Maker of the super-popular punch needle – in Cornwall
VIRGINIA
- ArlingtonWeaves – a weaving workshop – in Arlington
WASHINGTON
- Art Salvage – Creative reuse center – in Spokane
- Seattle ReCreative – Creative reuse store and artist studio – in Seattle