UpCycle Creative Reuse Center is pleased to announce a partnership with Shirlington Pediatric Dentistry and our signature program, Tinker Time. Dr. Shwetha Rai shares our emphasis on families, environmentalism, and creativity, and we are honored that she has chosen to support our local nonprofit and mission. With Dr. Rai’s sponsorship, UpCycle will make Tinker Time free to families when it relaunches the popular program at the end of April 2023. Dr. Rai and her family have been frequent participants in Tinker Time and other UpCycle programs over the years. When they originally discovered the original location on Mt. Vernon Avenue, they felt “immediately inspired” with the idea of creative reuse and incorporated it into their home with an UpCycle-inspired art station that holds various things such as corks, bottle caps, yarn, pine cones etc. Supporting UpCycle and enthusiastically sharing it with her patients at Shirlington Pediatric Dentistry is a natural extension of her family’s passion for creativity. Says Dr. Rai, “I know that I am using my small business to support a great local community program, but really I am just a mom who wants her kids to have a local place that fuels their creativity, and enriches their community. UpCycle is an Alexandria jewel and a part of my community that I am excited to support!” UpCycle is deeply grateful for Dr. Rai’s support which enables us to invite even more people to engage in creative reuse. We’re excited to grow together with her family and dental patients in the years ahead. pictured above: (left) Dr. Rai with her husband, Matt, and children Kalyan and Navya; (right) Kaylan and Navya. Executive Director, Theresa Esterlund, interviewed Dr. Rai about her background and why she wants to support UpCycle. We’re very excited for this partnership. Tell our community more about why you chose UpCycle. I love that Upcycle is a local community organization and that it is geared towards art for children, yet also encourages beautification of our community by turning our trash to treasure. I would love to get the word out that there is a great place in our community like this! My husband, Matt, and I have always tried to be environmentally conscious in our home and community. When we first discovered UpCycle, we loved the idea of taking something that could be trash and turning it into something beautiful. In addition, art is close to my heart because my mother is an artist, and she has inspired me my whole life to see something different in the ordinary, to find creative ways to make my art projects and to use what I have. My mother is an amazing artist, but her creativity is her greatest strength, and it made my childhood so colorful! She grew up needing to conform, and color inside the lines, and I often wonder what she would have done if a place like UpCycle was in her backyard. I see my mother’s quirks in my daughter, who doesn’t color within the lines, and has the same creative bone. My daughter, Navya, loves to experiment with different art mediums and make her “creations.” I am not sure where art will take her, but I do know that it is places like UpCylce that foster this growth, and that nurturing this creativity in children is important. I bring my children here to shop for art supplies and have brought my mother too, all of them are like kids in a candy shop and exhibit little self control! How is art integrated in your dental practice? Dentistry has always gone hand in hand with art. You will find many dentists who appreciate or make their own art from painting to sculptures and so forth. We are currently working on murals in the office that are fun nods to famous artists or art works. My favorite is the Andy Warhol inspired pop art wall of my kids. My goal with art is to create a space that is fun and interesting to visit, and that my patients will enjoy coming and leave inspired. Why do you love UpCycle’s Tinker Time? Tinker time is a LOT of fun! Tinker Time gives kids the space and material to really unlock their creativity. We actually first discovered it with my son, Kaylan, who enjoys building things and using his hands as well. It was fun to meet other people, and also see that everything can be turned into something new and interesting. At home, my kids collect materials for our UpCycle-inspired art station and use them in ongoing projects. What do you enjoy most about working with children? When I first started dental school, I did not realize that I enjoyed working with kids right away. I had worked in a pediatric dental office prior to dental school and loved it, but it took years of working with adults to realize that I preferred working with kids. Children make my work a lot of fun, and it doesn’t feel like I am “working.” They have great stories and points of view. They keep every day fresh. And I love that by encouraging good dental habits early, I have the opportunity to set up that foundation and positively impact their entire lives. For this partnership, you’ll begin by donating a portion of new patient’s fees to UpCycle. What would you like your new and future patients to know about UpCycle? Anyone can find something useful at UpCycle, and they can breathe new life and beauty into old objects! I met a lovely lady there who told me that she came to UpCycle to get inspired, and when she didn’t have an idea of what to do with her photography, she would look around to see what would get her creative juices flowing. She used the supplies she found to dress up her models, and took such captivating pictures of their very original look. I want to help spread the word about UpCycle, because I know that if they give it a chance, adults as well as kids will leave with a new project to express their creativity. About UpCycle Creative Reuse Tinker Time A signature program, Tinker Time is designed to inspire playfulness and creative expression in families with childrens age 3 and older. In this open exploration, you can access a unique collection of materials for inspiration as you create something of your own. Tinker Time is an unstructured time without a specific project. An adult must accompany children ages 12 and younger. Tinker Time has been on a short hiatus as we’ve been hiring new staff and reorganizing our studio space, but we’re relaunching the program at the end of April. Visit our website, join our newsletter, and follow on social media for details. About Shirlington Pediatric Dentistry Dr. Shwetha Rai and the kindhearted team at Shirlington Pediatric Dentistry foster a future of bright smiles and stellar habits for kids in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and the Northern Virginia area. Their mission is to provide a cheerful, inviting dental home where you and your child can feel truly known and valued by their dedicated team. Through fun-filled appointments, engaging education, and our preventive, personalized approach, they want to watch your kiddo grow and graduate from their care with lifelong oral care skills. With a warm, modern atmosphere and educational approach, they’re spurring on a fresh sense of wonder and optimism when it comes to visiting the dentist. They love building trustworthy, meaningful friendships with the families in their care. From your newborn bundle of joy to your college-bound teen, they’re honored to walk alongside you and your child with dedicated, compassionate guidance as they grow. Shirlington Pediatric Dentistry is located at 2700 S Quincy St Ste 305 Arlington, VA 22206. https://www.shirlingtonpediatricdentistry.com/ Are you a business or individual interested in supporting our programing? Contact [email protected].
 Rachel Witt is UpCycle’s Shop Manager and has been with us for 2 ½ years. She was essential in keeping UpCycle running throughout the pandemic and has been instrumental in transforming our shop first when we moved in March of 2022 and again now as we redesign the space for growth. Rachel is an Alexandria native who, other than college and grad school, has lived here her entire life. She is a proud mom of two “wonderful boys,” Liam (10) and Toby (7), who are frequent UpCycle participants and occasional shop helpers. (Rachel also hand-painted the sign outside our door!)
When did you begin working with UpCycle? I started in the fall of 2020 when the Kennedy Center was shut down due to the pandemic. In addition to my work at UpCycle, I am the Properties Coordinator for Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. You are also an artist. Tell us about your work. I have a Masters of Fine Arts in scenic design and have worked locally as a freelance scenic painter, education and marketing director for MVCCT, BBQ catering for Rockland's, and pottery instructor and artist. I am a teacher and founding member of Alexandria Clay Co-Op, a local pottery studio with over 100 members. I was just recently juried into the Scope Gallery at the Torpedo Factory and my first show with them will be in May. What’s your favorite reusable material? Why? There are so many options! If I had to choose just one, I would probably say old photographic slides. I love the glimpses into people's lives that they give you and have had fun turning them into lampshades. What do you love most about working at UpCycle? I love finding ways to organize and arrange the chaotic mix of items that come into the shop in such a manner that it inspires people to look at them in ways they may not have before. I also love being one of the first to see what comes in as donations and helping people find new and creative uses for the unlikeliest of items. Share a fun UpCycle memory. What comes to mind first is a huge donation of yarn we had come in a couple of months ago. I received an email stating they had 1600 skeins of yarn to bring in and my mind started to reel. How much space does 1600 skeins of yarn take up? Where were we going to put it? How were we going to process it? Then they sent the most amazing spreadsheet, where they had listed every piece of information possible about every skein in the donation. It was beautiful. I mentioned the donation to one of the pottery studio colleagues who is also a knitter and the next day she had a small army set to come in and help us sort, bag, and price everything. The lasting impression of this donation was one of community, a willingness to help and love for the material which I believe is at the heart of UpCycle. What’s your (current) favorite book? I just finished listening to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and was blown away by both the narrative and the narration. It is such a beautiful examination of how to live in a symbiotic relationship with the earth. The author also has a lovely voice and it was a joy to listen to. If you could have only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is an impossible question as I strongly feel that variety is the spice of life! If I had to pick one thing it would probably be pizza because it comes in so many different shapes and types and you could always vary toppings (is that cheating?). What’s your superpower? Problem solving. I love turning a problem over and trying to look at it from as many points of view as necessary to find a solution and then trying to poke holes in it to make sure it is sound. I think anything is solvable given enough time, you just have to be willing to step outside the box.  UpCycle Creative Reuse Center is excited to announce our participation in Spring2Action 2023! Mark your calendar for April 26, Alexandria’s biggest giving day.
Spring2ACTion, hosted by ACT for Alexandria, is a 24-hour fundraising event that gives Alexandria nonprofits the opportunity to reach new donors and raise funds for their organizations. Last year, UpCycle raised just over $10,000, and our goal for 2023 is $12,000. “We are so proud of how we’ve not only kept serving people in our local community throughout and beyond the pandemic but also how much we’re growing,” says Executive Director Theresa Esterlund. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, last year’s Spring2Action helped us move into a much larger space on Eisenhower Avenue and reintroduced our creative reuse programming for schools, families, and adults. This year, we’re reorganizing our space to allow us to accommodate even bigger groups and make our donation and shopping experiences better. From weekly Tinker Time for all ages to preschool Materials Playgroup to after school programs to adult creative art workshops, we can't wait to begin engaging in creative conservation with you in our larger space. While we value donations every day, gifts on April 26 are essential to our fundraising efforts because of the generosity of matching grants and the support from ACT for Alexandria. On this special day of giving, we are honored to join together with other Alexandria community nonprofits that make Alexandria a vibrant place for everyone. We are excited to spring forward as we offer even more resources and community engagement opportunities in 2023 - and beyond. As one member of UpCycle’s community described our Materials Center, "What a wonderful treasure trove of craft and art supplies! We had a fantastic shopping experience and the kids had so much fun filling a bag with all their treasures to craft with at home. Can't wait to come back!"  Sherri has been teaching camps and birthday parties with UpCycle Creative Reuse Center since 2022. She has 15 years experience as a preschool teacher and process art preschool teacher. Sherri also has a BA in Interior Design and an MA in Computer Graphics. She is married with two adult children (ages 21 and 18).
Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in an Airforce family. I was born in Turkey, lived in Massachusetts, New Mexico, Greece, Germany, England, Maryland, Florida, and Louisiana before getting married and moving to Virginia. I love being outdoors and photographing or picking up amazing objects I find in nature. I also enjoy reading novels, especially historical fiction and mysteries, and traveling to see new places. What do you love most about teaching at UpCycle? Working with many young artists from a variety of backgrounds. What are you most excited about for this year’s summer camp at UpCycle? I’m looking forward to creating with young artists for 5 days in a row and having the abundant time to spend on art making with them. Share a fun UpCycle memory. We wrapped yarn dipped in glue around balloons and let it dry overnight. The next day everyone was so excited to pop the balloons and see our balloon shaped sculptures. Instead of holding its shape, the yarn slowly collapsed inward, which wasn't what we expected but was interesting all the same. What’s your favorite reusable material? Why? Cardboard - it can be used for so many things! It’s a surface to paint on, can become a sculpture, you cut into pieces for printmaking or cut and hang for mobiles…and so much more. If you could have only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Artichoke What’s your (current) favorite book? When you Wonder, You're Learning: Mister Rogers' Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids by Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski What’s your superpower? Visual-spatial understanding - I'm really good and fast at solving puzzles and always draw out what I am thinking. |
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