When the SCRAP Creative Reuse Center in Richmond advertised their need for a new executive director in 2018, Amy Turner thought it was fate. “It’s the perfect job for me,” she said. “It’s like I’ve been training for this my whole life.” With a bachelor of fine arts, specializing in fine jewelry design, and a passion for glasswork, Amy’s eclectic background and skills make her well-suited for running Scrap RVA, one of four creative reuse centers across the country. The others can be found in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Baltimore, Maryland; and Portland, Oregon.
“Creative reuse” is a recycling or upcycling process where clean, reusable materials are donated so educators, artists, and other craftspeople can turn them into something new. Teachers can find pipe cleaner, paint, scrap paper, and macaroni for pennies on the dollar. Artists may find inspiration in an antique slide box, and quilters will find themselves in a vintage fabric dream.
L-R: Trent, whose been with Scrap RVA for six years, is one of the many ways the team creatively displays knitting needles; the fabric corner of Scrap RVA; because this machine couldn’t be repaired, Amy decorated it with random bits to be used as store decor.
“We never know what’s going to be donated, so it’s always a treasure hunt,” said Amy. Thanks to their recent expansion into a new space, SCRAP RVA now has more room than ever for eager craftspeople to seek their next project. If someone isn’t sure where to start, there are tons of classes: decoupage, knitting, license plate journals, beginning sewing and quilting, visible mending, cardboard sculpture, and the list goes on, and on. Since classes are volunteer run and organized, there’s no end to the possibilities of what someone could create. Even crafters in the middle of an abandoned project have a special place at SCRAP RVA, with the UFO group (Un-Finished Objects) meeting every other Friday to give artists a focused time and place to finish up whatever project they’ve been stalling on.
For the quilting-curious and hand-stitch experts alike, Amy points to SCRAP RVA as a special epicenter of possibility. “There is a huge audience with people coming to shop, but also people letting go of their collections,” Amy said, noting that the history of the city and numerous art schools nearby makes their fabric section especially rich.
Vintage linens, almost-finished-quilt tops, patterns at $0.50 each, and antique machines like Featherweights have all graced the store at one point—and just might again, if you choose to look. “If you need five yards of pink gingham, you might not find it, but who knows what you will find? And that’s the fun,” Amy said.
Whatever you do, don’t hesitate if you see something that inspires you. It may not be there tomorrow—or ever again. Magical places don’t stay in one shape or layout for long.
For Amy, SCRAP RVA is both a job and an inspiration, with her jewelry work always evolving, thanks to the endless possibilities at the store and her enthusiasm for upcycling that drives the nonprofit forward. “Nothing is safe from being repurposed, and we appreciate the beauty in things—that almost-lost beauty in this machine-made world,” Amy said. “We’re trying to bring back handmade and all the care that went into creating things. It’s not a faraway society. We don’t want it to be.”
Mel Burke is a culture writer in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing, she loves complaining about hiking and visiting cities with historic libraries. You can find her online everywhere as @melburkewrites.
