RBAB2: Reusing the Rust Belt

The most fascinating session I attended at last week’s Rust Belt to Artist Belt 2 in Cleveland was called “Reusing the Rust Belt.” Three case studies were presented, and I’ll briefly overview each. The overriding theme, and I think many of us are sensitive to this, is that we live in the post-industrial Great Lakes not because we see challenges we want to overcome but because we see exciting opportunities to exploit. These opportunities include ideas you might not expect.

A Piece of Cleveland

The first definition of reuse comes from A Piece of Cleveland, “rescuing and upcycling good wood.” For example, the above custom wall piece and conference table built entirely from reclaimed lumber. Let’s start with a definition.

Upcycling

Upcycling is a term coined by partners William McDonough, a world-known architect and designer and Dr.Michael Braungart, a German chemist. Upcycling describes the process of repurposing old materials in new ways to increase their value. Our goal is to utilize this concept by taking materials that would normally land in a landfill and give them new purpose through our furniture and accessories. 

We strip recovered materials down to their natural state and refurbish them for our distinctive products. We combine environmentally-friendly stains, paints and finishes with unique design to offer a creative use for discarded materials.

APOC is part of Cleveland’s deconstruction movement. As old wood is identified in structures that are coming down, they’re there to pick it up and turn it into commerce. After all, as their Web site says, “Without a market force for the materials, there is little impetus to deconstruct houses.”

The story behind the above picture comes from the VOCON design and architecture firm, who was redesigning its own building. They didn’t see an immediate use for long support timbers and turned them over to APOC. Later, they came back and said, ‘can you build us something with this?’ In addition to other aesthetic reasons, VOCON realized they could get LEED credits for incorporating this type of structure in their building. The result is the incredible pieces you see here.

Check out A Piece of Cleveland’s flickr photostream for other beautiful creations.

ZeroLandfill

Next up is ZeroLandfill, “a beneficial reuse program held seasonally that supports the supply needs of local artists and arts educators while reducing pressure on local landfill capacity.”

The story behind ZeroLandfill is fun. It began when Jeff Krejci, an account executive at InterfaceFLOR, began internalizing his company’s Mission Zero (“our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020″). Part of Mission Zero was rescuing flooring products before they were dumped to be recycled for new flooring products. One source of this is architecture and design firms, who receive specification samples from manufacturers.

He saw so many samples just getting thrown away, especially stuff his company couldn’t use: paint decks, laminate chips, upholstery swatches, glass and metal samples. He collected these and paid his children to help break them down for recycling. As he was driving a station wagon filled with products for recycling, a friend suggested they find people who could use these “as is.”

After opening up a collection center for several weeks and collecting six-foot-tall stacks of these items, they opened it up to the public and were absolutely cleaned out by a line of artists and educators that snaked out of the building, anxious to get at the products.

ZeroLandfill has since expanded Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron and soon Columbus, Minneapolis, Louisville and Boston. If we want to start something here, maybe in partnership with the Green Team, Jeff suggested getting a local advisory board together to manage the local operation, and he’d send all the information and program materials to us to get started.

ArtSpace

The last case study is from the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) in St. Louis. As suburban malls take a hit in occupancy and anchor stores empty one by one, empty storefronts can depress buyers, which only makes the situation worse.

Centrum Properties in St. Louis, owner of Crestwood Court mall, worked with RAC to find a use for its unused space and an outlet for artists and arts organizations.

The result is a space for a theater company for $100/month. Additionally, space is devoted to studios, galleries, classes and offices.

A dance studio, occupying the space of a high end clothing retailer, finds the pristine wooden floors ideal for tap and Irish dancing.  What were once dressing rooms for the Gap, now are dressing rooms for performers to change into costumes.  Artist Jeanne Vogel uses the sinks where hairdressers used to wash clients’ hair to wash paint brushes.  And a former jewelry store has been turned into a gallery where display cases are filled with hand-made bowls.

ArtSpace offers perks most artists only dream of.  The rent is nominal, averaging $100 per month, plus utilities.  The enormous spaces provide plenty of room for theaters, galleries, dance classes, work areas and offices.  There’s spacious, well lit, free parking; 24 hour security; and a sparkling clean facility in a safe, centrally located neighborhood.

The ArtSpace concept is already working.

After hearing of ArtSpace, the company handling the casting of George Clooney’s new movie “Up in the Air” (which is being shot in St. Louis) conducted its call for extras at Crestwood Court.  Thousands of people showed up, bringing much needed traffic to the mall.

Because of the publicity, new retailers are inquiring about leasing space and the mall is getting inquiries from café and other food related businesses.

A laid off interior designer, who had long dreamed of opening her own studio, is now happily situated in ArtSpace.  Her first client:  Crestwood Court.  She’s already designing the visual merchandising for ArtSpace.

Local moms are excited that they can drop their kids off for arts classes in a secure environment, while they shop or have lunch.

Cash strapped artists, many who have lost funding, are able to continue their work with greatly reduced overhead costs.

A local high school art teacher, Marilyn Callahan, created a gallery to display student artwork and sold a student’s painting for $125 in the first week.

Another example of how supporting the arts makes good economic sense.

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