Art Remains, located at 115 N. College Ave., is a non-profit establishment that aims to foster creativity, expand access to affordable resources, promote sustainability and redistribute materials as low-cost supplies for art and other creative endeavors.
The team behind Art Remains comprises four board members with a network of volunteers helping around at the store.
Sue McCracken, a lifelong crafter and upcycler and founder of Art Remains, channels her expertise into transforming thrifted materials into new creations.
Jean Haley, a fiber artist and educator, specializes in zero-waste techniques and natural dyeing. Julie Herwitt, an accountant turned designer, crafts unique bags and garments from repurposed fabrics. Stacy Allsop, a writer, researcher and artist, blends her love for sustainability, mixed media and community engagement.
“Our goal is to, first of all, keep things out of the waste stream,” McCracken said. “We take donations of art supplies that people might otherwise throw away and we resell them at very affordable prices so that art is affordable for lots of people.”
The store had its grand opening May 3, 2024, at 405 W. Sixth St. before eventually moving to its College Avenue location on Nov. 30. McCracken said as an artist who uses and shops for upcycled materials, she wanted to have a place to do just that in Bloomington. Having retired to the city a decade ago, she said she chose Bloomington for Art Remains because of its vibrant community of artists and crafters.
“Creative reuse centers are not a new idea,” she said. “They've been growing across the country rapidly. We are very small right now.”
McCracken said in addition to walk-in donations, they have a separate storage garage where they take donations in large amounts. They also encourage visitors to engage with these donations through various workshops and events.
These events have become a staple of Art Remains, encouraging visitors to engage with recycled materials creatively. The activities range from making upcycled Valentine’s crafts to decorating ugly Christmas sweaters with secondhand materials. The goal of these workshops is to demonstrate how discarded materials can be transformed into something new.
McCracken said Art Remains carries supplies for nearly any craft, and all projects use materials sourced from donations. She said nothing is purchased new — even the T-shirts are made from upcycled secondhand shirts.
Art Remains can be found at the First Fridays Gallery Walk, an art exhibition that takes place on the first Friday of every month where 10 distinct galleries stay open late to host special exhibits and serve refreshments from 5 to 8 p.m. McCracken said she is looking for artists to work with recycled and upcycled materials from Art Remains and feature their work at the exhibition.
Volunteers at Art Remains play a crucial role in maintaining operations, from organizing materials and pricing to assisting customers and managing social media.
Lila Streiff, an IU student studying art education, has lived in Bloomington her whole life and volunteers at the store.
“It’s very important to me to make art but it’s also very important to make art sustainable,” she said. “There’s a lot of waste that comes with consumerist art creation and I’m really glad that we can put a stop to that as much as we can.”
Katryn Devereaux is a fond customer of the store. She is part of the Persisterhood Workshop, an organization that engages in craftivism, a form of activism that involves making handmade items to reduce social and economic inequalities in South-Central Indiana.
“I dabble in a lot of artsy things, and I love that it’s all reuse,” Devereaux said. “It helps me knowing that if I start crafting in an area and, a year or two from now, I think I’ve done enough of that, I have a great place that I can bring my things to and they’ll be used by someone else in another way and that makes me happy.”
Art Remains is open from 3 to 6 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. McCracken said she aims to expand the store in the next couple of years by training more volunteers to work the store so they can be open for more hours and potentially on Sundays as well.
“I hate to see all the stuff that people are buying that ends up here because they bought too much,” she said. “So, start here. You may not find it but start here and you'll probably find things you didn't even think about for your projects.”
