SCRAP STUDIO FAQ
What is SCRAP STUDIO?
The SCRAP STUDIO project is a not-for-profit social enterprise, which will
promote recycling and the creative re-use of safe materials for art and play,
through the provision of a community storage and distribution point. This
space will also provide a venue for exploration and experimentation with
recycled materials through a programme of skills workshops & projects
What’s the ‘Big Idea’?
SCRAP STUDIO will collect, sort, display, and distribute alternative and
reclaimed materials obtained from the unsold stock and scrap materials of
industrial production, to re-inventing their use. This process will provide wider
value and meaning and has both environmental, educational and community
benefits in promoting an ethos of thrift and sustainability
Who is running the project day-to-day?
SCRAP STUDIO is run by artists, Yvonne Preston and Rosi Thornton, who
between them have many years of experience in working with a wide variety
of people, community groups and organisations to develop art projects using
recycled materials
What will SCRAP STUDIO offer its members?
SCRAP STUDIO will offer annual membership to individuals, families and
community groups, which will allow access to explore an ever-changing
supply of interesting, reclaimed scrap materials. There will also be regular
opportunities to get advice and ideas from the Scrap Studio artists on how to
make the best of it. Members can then can fill up a bag or bucket for a small
charge and start experimenting! We will encourage everyone to share ideas
by displaying on our photo wall and FB page to showcase all the great scrap
art projects and other things they create from recycling.
What is the community benefit for Darlington?
The ethos of SCRAP STUDIO is to encourage everyone to get involved in
recycling to protect our environment. That means finding new ways to reuse,
reinvent, refashion, revamp, donate, and share what we already have around
us in lots of creative and interesting ways. Local communities, businesses,
schools, organisations and retailers have waste materials, some of which can
be reused, so we will collect and redistribute these for community benefit. We
are an eco-art project
Which organisations is the project working with?
We have been working with the Waste Management officer from Darlington
Borough Council, furniture recycling projects such as FRADE, the Marchday
Group@ Lingfield Point, Darlington Cares & other organisations to develop a
new way of working around creative reuse of scrap materials. We are also
involved in developing the DARN project (Darlington Active Recycling
Network) to make links and partnerships with all local recycling projects,
charity shops and re-use initiatives across Darlington.
How is the project managed?
SCRAP STUDIO is a not-for-profit social enterprise with community and
environmental aims.
How is the project funded?
This project grew out of another recycling project based in rural County
Durham, which needed a new home. It then received a small Local Agenda
21 grant from Darlington Borough Council in 2012 to look at the feasibility of
establishing an arts and recycling project within the Darlington area. Ongoing
funding will be a mixture of SCRAP STUDIO membership fees, income from
running teaching and activity workshops, donations and funding for project
development. We are already looking for further funding to promote and
extend our project with the support of the external funding team at DBC
Who will donate the recycled scrap and waste to the project?
We have already started to contact local firms, organisations, retailers and
groups to negotiate regular collections of useful scrap materials for the
SCRAP STUDIO resource area. Some of this will come through one-off
donations as well as regular collection points and drop-in containers placed in
workplaces and businesses, but we are always exploring other ways of
sourcing interesting and reusable waste products for creative projects. Our
database of suppliers is growing but we are very happy to hear from anyone
who may have useful materials that can be recycled through our project. We
also welcome the donation of useful tools and equipment such as sewing
machines, storage bins, boxes and shelves to use in our workshop.
How will the recycled and scrap materials be managed?
The project workers will organise, sort and store all the scrap materials in the
SCRAP STUDIO premises and advertises what is available in the scrap store
to our members through the project website and Facebook page on a regular
basis. Despite using what is often seen as ‘ unwanted rubbish’ in our work,
everything we collect and supply from SCRAP STUDIO is clean, very well
organised and stored in interesting and tidy storage containers. We take
health & safety and the correct management of waste materials very
seriously, and the project will never have piles of loose materials lying around.
Are there other arts and recycling projects anywhere?
YES – SCRAP STUDIO is a registered member of the national organisation of
recycling and art projects known as ‘Scrapstores UK’ that supports lots of
individual projects across the country, offers training in project governance,
safe waste management and helps to raise the profile of the environmental
recycling work that we are involved in. There is an annual conference and
regular events to share and swop surplus materials with each other. It’s good
to be part of a larger and very positive environmental movement.