Crowds of visitors to Art on the Avenue 2012 were drawn to the UpCycle tent of materials and enjoyed a hands-on experience at the festival.  People of all ages (and species--what was that green guy?) worked with our materials, decorating a log with bottle caps and creating embellishments for our rope.

Many were drawn to the tools:  cutting wire and hammering were not an every day experience for most.  And, one mother commented that it had been a long time since she had created something.  She, and many others, were quite satisfied with their work.

This winter, the garland we created will decorate the holiday tree in front of A Show of Hands, a popular Del Ray shop featuring local craft and artwork at 2301 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22301.

We hope our work will inspire you to find ways to give discarded materials new life!

UpCycle will be at Art on the Avenue on the Mount Vernon Field on Saturday, October 6 from 10 am - 3 pm.  We will have a variety of materials that might have otherwise been discarded.  We invite you to explore our collection of reusable materials, select items that speak to you, and add them to our garland.  We challenge you to connect, layer or join more than one item before attaching it to the rope.  Look for our Art on the Avenue 2012 Community Garland in Del Ray in the coming months, and check back here for our post about the event.

A special thanks to Sportrock Climbing Center for donating the spent rope for our project!