We were thrilled when Kara Rossi, teacher at PlayArts, contacted us to set up a visit to The Resource Exchange with their summer campers. PlayArts is a beautiful child-centered arts and play space for infants through young children located on Front Street in Fishtown. Their facility offers educational enrichment, group classes and private music lessons for children and their parents. Sustainability is a key part of the PlayArts philosophy.
“We believe that we’re in this together. Respect–for the environment, our community, and one another. We took great care in creating a sustainably-minded space; please help us care for it and teach our children to care for it, too.”
The group of campers started their day at PlayArts and made their own reusable bags to bring with them to The Resource Exchange. They arrived excited and full of ideas for the art projects they would be creating later in the day with reclaimed materials, making either a sculpture, jewelry, or sewing their own plush toy.
We loved getting to sit down with the campers and have them tell us all the ways they follow the “3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” at home. Remembering to use reusable bags and water bottles were at the top of the list. Following the theme of “there is no away,” one of the campers told us that when you throw things away “it sits in a landfill and makes the earth freak out.”
After everyone shared their ideas, the group got to explore our warehouse, then took to The Random Room with their bags and “Bulk Boxes” to gather supplies. Skateboard wheels, fabric samples, pop open eggs, paper cups, tubes, faux flowers, pins, chopsticks, beach shells, photo slides and letter sheets were just a few of the great finds that were incorporated into their art projects.
Check out some of the projects the campers made after they got back to PlayArts! (Click photos to enlarge.)
Thank you to PlayArts and their wonderful campers for spending their morning and learning about creative reuse with us!
