The Learning Zone invites you to celebrate our 5th anniversary with the launch of the ReUSE Depot, a new art and design material swap space!
One artist’s trash is another designer’s treasure – that’s been the founding idea behind a series of successful events that have been organized over the past several years at OCAD U by various departmental collaborations, including the Materials Trading Post, the Green Exchange & OCAD U Recycles. All of the events, whether focused on swapping art supplies, or recycling and repurposing old technology, had at their core the desire the redirect supplies and materials from the landfill and into the arms of artists and designers who will be inspired to create, and will be liberated from some financial burden. The Learning Zone ReUSE Depot is a permanent installation of these ideals: a location for donating used but usable art & design materials and/or finding used items that will be useful to your creative practice and giving them a new home.
We’ll be celebrating with a maker competition: Materials from our ReUSE Depot will be available for a tiny object competition. The creator of the best tiny object will be awarded a $50 gift certificate to a business of their choice. Judging will be based on aesthetic, concept and most creative use of materials.
Free refreshments will be available, including fresh-cooked, healthy eats from the Student Union's Hot Lunch program, sweets from the Student Union Café (vegan & gluten free!), and a Learning Zone birthday cake. Come help blow out the candles! There will also be information on hand about other sustainable initiatives on campus and how you can get involved. One new project we will be highlighting is Sustainable Connections, connecting like-minded people, ideas and initiatives.
In the spirit of the collaborations that have led to this project, we have also created a info poster that will connect all of the facilities already practicing this kind of activity on campus – the wood scrap bin at the wood shops, the metal scraps at the metal shop, scrap electronics in the INTM studio, etc. for a total of almost 20 locations on campus that demonstrate the culture of reuse that already exists on our campus. The posters will be hung at every ReUSE location, so that students can be more easily aware of other resources on campus for deviating and reusing materials and supplies.
This project is an inter-departmental collaboration between the Indigenous Visual Culture program (INVC), the Library’s Learning Zone, the Office for Diversity, Equity & Sustainability (ODESI), Facilities Planning & Management and Studio Management. The development of this project has also been supported by The First Generations program, IT Services & AV Loans.
This event is part of Green Winter, a month of sustainable programming organized by the Student Union. For more Green Winter events, visit the OCAD Student Union Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/ocadsu.