Materials for the Arts

"Soccer Player," 2011 by an MFTA workshop participant

Materials for the Arts (MFTA) is an incredible collaboration between the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Sanitation in NYC.  It was founded in 1978 to gather materials from companies and individuals who no longer need them and makes them available for free to NYC’s arts and cultural organizations, public schools and community arts programs.  As a result, hundreds of tons are removed from the waste stream every year and kept out of landfills. For example, Soccer Player, the found object sculpture featured above, was created by an MFTA workshop participant exploring the potential of discarded materials during a group visit program at the warehouse.

After large set design jobs I will generally donate leftover supplies such as paints, fabrics, canvas, lumber, and even buttons and rick rack. MFTA keeps track of where donations come from and have recipients write letters of thanks to donors. As a result I have received letters from schools, hospitals, community theater groups, and this recent, charming letter from Harry:

Knowing that a donation goes to good use is very fulfilling.  Please consider MFTA the next time you are clearing out your space or about to prepare a project.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 8:00 am. It is filed under Creative Culture, New York City, Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

2 Responses to “Materials for the Arts”

  1. Nosara Artisans says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    Hi,
    Nice blog, I like the photography article. On February 22nd at the Gilded Iguana, Nosara Artisans will have another art show from 12-3pm. Do you list art events on your site? If so, do you have an email where I can send you our poster?

    Thank you, Kristen Brousseau

  2. Deborah says:
    February 13, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    Thanks for asking, Kristen. I’ll be in touch to learn more about your Nosara artisan show!