LAVA’s extended season of creating art from reclaimed, repurposed and reused materials officially begins Saturday, Aug. 15, noon with opportunities to investigate, experiment and imagine. In the spirit of the famed hands-on, interactive and interdisciplinary Exploratorium museum of science and art in San Francisco, the first of six sessions offered on alternate Saturdays encourages people of all ages and artists from novice to professional to come to play with a variety of found and reclaimed materials. An Inspiration Station will feature video clips of artists who do amazing work with reclaimed materials and of artists who demonstrate specific techniques. In subsequent sessions, we will learn from local artists who turn waste to wonders, trash to treasures.
RE-ART will culminate in the fall with a community art show featuring work created by those who have attended one or more of the sessions.
The full schedule of workshops is as follows:
- Saturday, Aug. 15, noon–2 p.m.: Exploratorium. Lots of materials. Lots of empty frames. Plenty of possibilities.
- Saturday, Aug. 29, noon–2 p.m.: Alyson Arnold. Creations from cardboard packaging and other found materials.
- Saturday, Sept. 12, noon–2 p.m.: Daniel Hales. Multi-media collage.
- Saturday, Sept. 26, noon–2 p.m.: Dylan Bertucco. Yarn scraps to art and jewelry.
- Saturday, Oct. 10, noon–2 p.m.: Ash Goverman, Plarn: turning plastic bags into baskets and more.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, noon–2 p.m.: Allen Fowler. Paper, acrylic, magazines.
The “Exploratorium” on Saturday, Aug. 15 is informal and self-directed; no advance registration required. By contrast, registering for artist-led workshops is strongly encouraged. There is no charge, though donations are always accepted and very much appreciated to help defray the programming costs.
Plans are also in motion for outdoor and store window displays of extinct and endangered pollinators. We will learn about them while re-imagining them, creating their images from reclaimed and repurposed materials.
For more information, contact info@thelavacenter.org. To register for one or more artist-led workshops, go to http://bit.ly/4fEmdQa.
RE-ART is made possible in part by project support from Greening Greenfield and Cultural Crossroads District LLC (a project of Mass Cultural Council), 2026 Season Support from the Greenfield Recorder and Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and 2026 Community Building Sponsor Dog Hollow Press.
