Eli Whitney Museum

We need things to make things. But why not start with things nobody else seems to want? We collect things that want to be reused or recycled. When we make parts for our projects, our machines leave behind offcuts that call out: use me! This is a week devoted to discovering beauty or usefulness where others just see scrap.

Start with opportunities: consider the stack of wood lattices we have saved. Consider the 4000 corks our friends have saved for us. Consider the million feet of wire that telephones no longer need. Consider the hundreds of half used spools of thread that no one could throw away. Look at ways others have used them. Visit the studio of Susan Clinard, the Museum's Artist-in-Residence, who has a special genius for finding new life in old things. Then experiment. Work with teams on larger projects. Pick materials and challenges to solve on your own. Learn to express yourself and save the planet.