Calder Kamin on Austin Creative Reuse

I'm a board member of Austin Creative Reuse.

I've been a board member since 2020.

During lockdown, I picked up the book, Everything She Touched.

It's about Ruth Asawa.

Come to find out she is the mother of creative reuse.

She started the first creative reuse center just collecting cardboard from the community to give kids more interesting materials to work with in the classroom.

Austin Creative Reuse started I believe 10 years ago.

I started shopping in like 2015, 2016.

There's lots of gently used, really nice art supplies for a fraction of the cost.

There's a section called the bucket sections where we put all the weird junk and that's my favorite area.

We have so many brilliant, creative people that use creative reuse and they make beautiful objects.

A majority of these programs started for educators because we don't give teachers enough credit, enough money and enough supplies but it's for all kinds of folks.

Makers, crafters, families, kids I mean people just looking for cheap materials.

It's just a wonderful way to eliminate waste and have access to art supplies.