Building a Community: One Pride Parade Float at a Time
On the evening of August 20th, in the middle of a sweltering Texas summer, ACR staff and volunteers braved the heat and humidity to gather in Downtown Austin near the Capitol. We came together around what started out as a seemingly ordinary truck and trailer, united in excitement for the night ahead. Far removed from our workplace, our staff dressed themselves in outfits that included every color of the rainbow, makeup that made some of them nearly unrecognizable, and of course - lots and lots of glitter. The looks were a creative expression of our Pride.
Though it’s hard to believe, this was our first time ever participating in the Austin Pride Parade as an organization. For years, we have considered our center to be a safe, inclusive space for folks to come and be their true selves. From start to finish, our goal was not only to support our LGBTQ2IA+ staff, volunteers, and community, but also to share the joy of reuse with the city of Austin at large. It seemed like a no-brainer to sign up for a contingent in the Pride Parade, and we’re so glad we did!
With Tanya, our Communications Coordinator at the helm, ACR staff and volunteers made it possible for us to pull off creating our own, monumental float built with reuse materials in 3 separate components: a rainbow (that you’ll later see is aptly named for this year’s parade theme, “Beyond the Rainbow”), two mosaic side panels, and a dragon.
This project was a labor of love from all of our staff and volunteers in order to be the change we wish to see in the world, our organization, and our communities. As our Executive Director, Jenn Evans, touchingly stated when thanking the staff for making her kids feel welcome at Pride, “[Imagine] what would the world look like if all kids had that opportunity?” Our hopes are that one day we’ll get to see what that looks like. 🌈
Wondering how we put together our masterpiece? We have shared our process below, in detail, for anyone out there who is thinking about creating their own DIY parade float.
Building a DIY Parade Float
First, the Structure
From our very first meeting, our team member, Joanna, suggested that all elements of the float be reused in the center once the parade was done - we are, after all, a reuse center! Therefore, we made sure to measure twice and cut once. We planned the frame and pieces to fit both the rental trailer and different areas of the center a month and a half in advance. Processing Co-lead, Bee, and Tanya, helped Joanna with all the drilling, screwing, and sawing on one hot July Saturday morning. Huge thanks to Sunbelt Rentals for helping us make sure that we got the right trailer for our needs!
The frame being built!
Part 1: The Panels
Our Processing Co-lead and renowned artist, Barbara Paris, was the mastermind behind the creation of these incredible panels. She got right to work on spray painting the design, inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Once that was done, several staff members volunteered their time to help glue bucket plastic (and all kinds of things, really) onto each panel. You’ll find several tiny treasures that they hid amongst the colors if you look at it long enough! Finally, Barbara sealed the mosaics with resin to secure everything into place.
Barbara spray painting the wooden panel
Staff members Sal (left), and Kat (right) working on the mosaic
Mosaic materials ready to be used
Painted plastics drying in the sun
Both of the completed mosaics laid out side-by-side in our workshop
Part 2: The Dragon Head
Tori, one of our amazing Reuse Specialists, spearheaded the creation of the dragon head. She started out by using cardboard and masking tape to make the shape, then she and her friends used the papier-mâché technique to make this fantastic dragon come to life. They used glue paste and paper from our bucket section to give the dragon some dimension. The horns used were donated and perfectly fit her concept design! Tanya then finished the detailing using acrylic paints, beads, and cut up CD’s that one of our former staff (we miss you, Bender!) and their partner helped cut into pieces to look like scales.
Part 3: The Rainbows
Ok, we’ll be honest, we don’t have a lot of pictures of the two rainbows being made because it was crunch time, and we had a deadline to meet! Regardless, our Operations & Administrative Coordinator, Kat, took this project on and executed it to perfection! Made out of foam board insulation scraps, spray insulation, dowels, glue, and a prayer (jk, we’re secular), the rainbows held up beautifully. The approach for this component was to use more soft materials as they would be lighter and eventually hang over the entrance to the bucket section of the store. After our Executive Director, Jenn, Online Store Coordinator, Bianca, Kat, Barbara, and Tanya finished spray gluing, stapling and floral pinning all the soft fabrics, lace, silk flowers, etc. they could find, Joanna added letters to one of the rainbows. With that, our Pride float theme was revealed!
The Day of the Parade
Finally, it was time! Staff members, their families and friends, and core volunteers showed up to set up and march alongside the ACR trailer. We will let the pictures speak for themselves.
We’d like to extend a very large and sincere thanks to our volunteer, Heather Ford, for driving her personal vehicle to pull the trailer the day of the parade, Retail Manager, Molly, for helping create 50 goodie bags that we gave out parade attendees, iconic Reuse Specialist, Sav, and Bee for going the extra extra mile in breaking down after the parade was over, despite being exhausted like everyone else. Thank you also to Little Deli Pizza for keeping us well fed almost every week leading up to the event. Lastly, as people say when they receive an award, “If there was anyone that we missed, we apologize, but know that we are so thankful to you too.”
