For Rebecca Maguire, being an art student can get pretty expensive, so the UF visual art studies sophomore turns to The Repurpose Project.
According to its mission statement, The Repurpose Project is a “community-based effort to divert useful resources from the landfill, redirect these items to the public for art and education, inspire creativity and help us all rethink what we throw away.”
“There are so many unwanted items in the world that end up in a landfill somewhere so Sarah, my fellow co-founder and I, thought about what we could do about it and came up with this,” said Mike Myers, a co-founder of The Repurpose Project.
The project, located at 1920 NE 23rd Ave., makes it financially beneficial for Maguire to execute her projects while sustaining goods.
“I think this is a perfect place for students to find inexpensive supplies,” the 19-year-old said. “Some things have a price on them, but most of the time you end up naming your own price and walking away with so much.”
With just six employees and a few volunteers, The Repurpose Project is open to new items and ideas from surrounding counties, especially from university students.
“Our favorite time is when students move out and leave things out that they no longer want,” Myers said. “We like to call it Curbs-R-Us.”
While this organization is helping to solve the waste issue, locals benefit from the things that can be found there as well.
“I love that the content of it changes as new things come and go,” Maguire said. “Anytime I’m assigned a project I go there for inspiration before I even begin, since I never know what different stuff I can find every time.”
Rachel Wayne, a co-founder of DolphinWizard Puppetry and Toys, drops by regularly for costuming and prop supplies for her puppets.
“My favorite part of The Repurpose Project is that it almost always has what I need,” Wayne said. “Any type of art or crafting supplies, they have it all.”
Wayne is never surprised at what she comes across at The Repurpose Project, but she was definitely happy when she found a particular object for a personal project.
“I would have to say the most unique item I’ve ever found was a pair of costume wings that I recovered to be a part of a Gelfing costume for Dragon Con,” Wayne said.
Wayne first learned about The Repurpose Project in 2012 and kept it in mind when she opened her business two years later.
“Each puppet costs anywhere between $200 and $1,000, so the foam, fabric, PVC pipe and lumber from there is really helpful,” Wayne said.
Satchel Raye, the owner of local restaurant Satchel’s Pizza, rethinks items from The Repurpose Project into art for the restaurant.
“I was inspired by folk art as a teenager and I found that there is so much beauty in the stuff that people throw out,” Raye said. “So why not use the free materials, recycle and make something cool?”
While it may seem the restaurant has always been decorated with funky art, it wasn’t Raye’s original plan to make it that way.
“We make new additions every month or so,” Raye said.
“I’m a workaholic, so I continue making art, collecting junk and finding a place for it, making it a one day at a time sort of idea,” he said.
As for the future of The Repurpose Project as a whole, Myers hopes to have different areas for events, families and even a beer bar to make it feel more like a community where people can just hang out.
Maguire has been stopping by The Repurpose Project for two years now and plans to go for as long as she lives in Gainesville.
“I live by the fact that one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and I hope people can find that in The Repurpose Project like I have,” Maguire said.
