Lucy-3/4/09-Material for the Arts
I went to Material for the Arts with Maddie, Sadie, and Surayya. Material for the Arts is a place where they have a series of materials. The materials are given to them by people who did want them, or wanted to donate something. After Material for the Arts is given the material, people can come and buy the stuff for their projects, art pieces, or anything they want to use it for. When we arrived there we were met by a women who assigned us a job and we got to work. Our job was to sort out old and thrown away jewelry. We had to put clumps of it in bags, and then it was tossed in a bucket. This way when the people come to shop, they are able to just grab a bag of jewelry to make a craft or something. I think the work went very well considering the fact that we finished almost all of it in the time that we had. We were able to learn a little about what we were doing, and we were able to see the kind of place Material for the Arts is really about. At first I didn’t know what to expect, but once I got there I knew Material for the Arts was a cool place. There were buckets and buckets of beads, large varieties of fabric, different statues everywhere, and a lot more. After getting there and meeting everyone, I felt like I was going to have fun, along with doing some work. What struck me was the amount of stuff they had. Our job was to sort jewelry and I thought it would be an easy task I could finish in only a little time, but it took the whole time we were there. There was a lot of stuff in the place and I was wondering how many people shop there and how many people would it take to buy all of this stuff. What I learned about the environment was that these things are all recycled things. The jewelry we were given was given to Material for the Arts after they were returned and were not able to be worn again. Instead of throwing al these things in the garbage and creating a bigger mess, they were given to Material for the Arts so that people can use them in crafts. A lot of different people come to get the materials. It isn’t just for people who can’t afford it, or public schools that have no money. It is for people who would like to use the materials. The goals I set for my next visit is to ask more questions. Trying to figure out our project in April is going to be hard so I think the more information we have, the easier it will be to come up with something to do. I think I should research a little more about where everything comes from. I think it is really cool how people just give it to this place, but what I am really wondering is how does Material for the Arts reach out to these people? For the Teach In on April 29th, I want to remember the job we did. We could maybe think of something to present that is involved with making an art piece out of a bag of recycled jewelry.