VCU Graphic Design Students in Laura Chessin's class used STUFF as inspiration for a series of projects they created to market our organization.  Here are some of the results:

Greetings! It's back to school time and STUFF's Program Director, Sarah Branigan, is gearing up to head back into the art classroom at two elementary schools after four years working in administration at the University Level.  What does this mean for STUFF?

Well, we are going to take a little breather and see what happens over the course of this transition time.  We are also crossing our fingers for a little bit better economy so that there is more support (i.e. funding) for new not for profit organizations!

Another co-founder, Diana Wagner, is living and working in Philadelphia at the Fabric Workshop.  She is continuing to pursue her love of creative reuse! You can email her at diana@richmondstuff.org.

Check back with us again soon and to those that have been involved with STUFF so far, we thank you so much and look forward to keeping Richmond excited about creative reuse!

Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 - 5:00 Sunday - Monday by appointment 
www.jfergesongallery.com 434.391.1066
311 N. Main St. Farmville, VA 23901

Thursday, February 25, 7- 8pm
Johnston Foster: One Man's Trash, Another Man's Treasure

Johnston Foster lives and works in Virginia, where he frequently can be found strolling highway medians, alleyways and garbage dumpsters for discarded objects and potential materials for his work. His signature style is to create large scale sculptures from the
detritus cast away for his reclaim that encapsulate themes of social unrest, impending chaos, and the dark side of human empirical tendencies.  He has shown widely in the United States and Europe, and his lecture will focus on his sculpture, installations and his process involved in their creation.


Here are some photos of the event:

This past weekend Richmond Stuff presented at the VAEA conference! We had an awesome time telling everyone about who we are and having them create artwork out of our recycled materials. here are some pictures from the event!

September Artist:

CardboardSafari

CardboardSafari is a collaboration between Chris Jessee and Luis Rodrigalvarez. Find them on Etsy here.   Their delightful works include cardboard deer, bison, and rhino trophies, wreaths, gift boxes, holiday trees and full-body animals. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, CardboardSafari's products are earth friendly, can be recycled, and are just plain fun.


September Resources:

All on the Internet.
 
Want to learn more about how other people are greening up their lives? Check out Best Green Blogs, a rather expansive directory of green and sustainable themed weblogs, organized by diverse categories. Writers from all over the world are publishing articles and stories dealing with a wide variety of topics dealing with environmental issues and green living; and Best Green Blogs is an attempt to capture some of that independent publishing spirit.

One blog featured on Best Green Blogs was Cheap Like Me, "where ecology (living green) meets economy (frugal living). This blog explores how to redirect dollars and energy into living the good life you want. Let’s talk about how we do it, and how to do it better."

...And the big fish needs to recycle too.  Creative Recycling Resources, based in the southeastern United States, strives to be a resource to dampen corporate America's eco-print. From Creative Recycling Resources's website:

The Information Age has created a virtual tidal wave of electronic devices – including computers and monitors that become obsolete or wear out at an ever-increasing rate. The demand for newer, superior technology has increased the pace at which current devices reach the end of their useful lives. As a result, the question of what to do with obsolete electronics has become a global issue. Disposal is not the answer. Computers and other electronics need to be properly handled by a responsible recycling company rather than being sent to a waste disposal company.

I thought

America is in the midst of a greenwashing craze. We lead stressful, busy lives. Do we really have the energy to read all of the fine print before getting to the checkout line? As a compromise, we are happily seduced by catch words we associate with being eco-friendly. “Organic,” “green” and “natural” appear more and more in product labels lingo. Unfortunately, there are not enough regulations in place to guarantee those tag-words mean what we think they mean (______ is good for you/your home/mother earth!)

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati have found a good argument for taking a few extra moments to look beyond the marketing to get the facts.

Cincinnati--Although lead content in paint has been restricted in the United States since 1978, University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say in major countries from three continents there is still widespread failure to acknowledge its danger and companies continue to sell consumer paints that contain dangerous levels of lead. 

In a new study, Scott Clark, PhD, and his team have found that approximately 73 percent of consumer paint brands tested from 12 countries representing 46 percent of the world’s population exceeded current U.S. standard of 600 parts per million (ppm) for lead in paint. In addition, 69 percent of the brands had at least one sample exceeding 10,000 ppm. With the majority of American consumer goods being produced overseas, Clark says that lead paint exposure remains a serious global health threat. […]

Interested in learning about environmentally responsible paints currently on the market?

Mythic Paint
AFM Safecoat Paint
Durasoy Enamel Paint
YOLO Colorhouse Paint