LSWDD’s newest pilot project, The ReMakery, is lining up for a full weekend of arts and education around zero waste with an art show opening “Precious to Permanent” on Friday, June 25 from 5-8 p.m. at the ReMakery and “ReMade on Lopez” a Showcase & Fashion Event at Vitas on Saturday, June 26 from 4-8 p.m.

The first exhibition titled “Precious to Permanent” is on Friday, June 25 from 5-8 pm at the ReMakery. This show features the first two makers to participate in the ReMakery’s new Maker in Residence Program, Suz O’Dell and Tam Paynter.

Suz O’Dell is a metal clay jewelry artist. Metal Clay is a recycled product originally manufactured by Mitsubishi Material Corp and Aida Chemical Industries in Japan. These companies recycle and reclaim a variety of different metals. Silver and gold come from many different recycled sources including film stock and negatives. During her residency, Suz also experimented with using metals reclaimed from LSWDD’s recycle plaza and TIOLI in her work and in her display.

Tam Paynter worked for most of her career in IT at the Smithsonian Institute. She has been long wanting to create sculpture with mylar and monofilament that has movement. She has been exploring the issues of permanence and ubiquity of those materials in her new art installation titled “The World is Too Much With Us— Ghost Nets and Marine Debris” in this exhibition at the ReMakery.

There will be an artist talk from 6-7 p.m. with a Q & A.

On Saturday, June 26 from 4-8 p.m. at Vita’s there will be a showcase and fashion event titled “ReMade on Lopez” featuring all the items that have been remade since the opening of the ReMakery.

Anyone familiar with LSWDD and SWAP history knows that these fashion shows are sell-out events that promise innovative fashion, insider education about textile reuse and recycling, and fun and surprises for the whole family. “ReMade on Lopez” will also feature many of the prototypes created at the ReMakery with the goal of increasing the local circular economy, reusing materials that might have otherwise been landfilled or shipped very far away, and innovating useful and thoughtful items that can keep materials on the island in new ways.

When LSWDD received its start-up grant from the Department of Ecology, they were only given four months in which to spend the entire $50,000. The Showcase community event was one of three deliverables promised in the grant. The other deliverables were classes, which have been going and well attended since the ReMakery opened its doors. The ReMakery offers drop-in maker times, classes, workshops, monthly Repair Cafes every Second Saturday from 12-4 p.m. and a Maker in Residence program. The ReMakery has industrial sewing machines, sergers, regular sewing machines, 3D printers, jewelry making, leatherworking tools, electronics repair and tools, and soon a laser cutter, along with a host of other useful tools to upcycle and transform materials. The goal of ReMakery is to educate our community about the value of reduction, reuse, repair, and repurposing items locally to increase the local circular economy.

The localization of reuse helps decrease greenhouse gas emissions, creates potential revenue sources for local makers and entrepreneurs, and most importantly, continues to keep LSWDD’s Zero Waste Mission at the forefront of the minds of the community.