New to Reuse: My First Time at ACR

Guest Blogger: Jim Hampton, Student Volunteer from UTThe first time I stepped foot in the Austin Creative Reuse Center, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Up to that day, I’d only seen the nonprofit’s YouTube channel, which featured ACR events taking place at temporary, borrowed spaces: a classroom, a backyard or a table at a convention. Each video showed volunteers working with a different group, from schoolchildren to conference attendees. Given the breadth of the work that ACR was shown to do as part of a mission to foster conservation through creative and collaborative means, I was interested in what the organization’s home space might look like. I wasn’t disappointed.Even in its unfinished stages, ACR had created something dazzlingly unique. Everything, from the behind-the-counter signage to storage containers to the lime green bench by the front door, had been built from repurposed materials. My group and I took nearly an hour to browse the unfinished storefront area, looking at the colorful catalog of materials that ACR offered. Basic materials like fabric and spray paint shared the shelves with doorknobs, vintage photographs, old maps and even used canvases meant to be painted over. The closer we looked at the center, the more ingenuity we found. At the time, it seemed like a miracle that ACR was even able to fit all of these materials in one room.I’m not a visually artistic person, but it’s difficult to not be inspired by looking at things that ACR volunteers had created as examples. There were boxes made from old record albums, old textbooks with secret compartments, collaged wall decorations, and even a beautiful, medieval-style dress, presumably made with donated fabric and thread, was prominently displayed by the register. Stepping foot inside ACR’s center made me want to explore, to build and to work with the nonprofit, and I suspect that’s one of the main reasons my group and I are trusted to publicize the new space by creating a promotional video.My understanding of Austin Creative Reuse’s mission fully took shape after visiting the community center. This is an important first step for them. ACR isn’t opening a base of operations for themselves, they’re opening a source of inspiration for the city, and it won’t stop there. I’m proud to be involved, even in a small role, at such a pivotal point in time.Watch the Video created by UT Student Volunteers