Turning a wheel into a moon and wires into wings, the Everyday Inferno Theater Company didn’t need spells to create a magical world. Earlier this month the company produced Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy, a newly spun version of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, at the historic Jan Hus Playhouse. Blending together source material from Perrault, Basile, Walt Disney, and the Brothers Grimm, playwright Caroline Angell adapts the legendary Sleeping Beauty by telling the story from the perspectives of both the hero and villain. The production combined theater, music, movement, and puppetry to bring to life Angell’s inventive take on the fairy tale.

The show was performed with actors moving in and around the audience to fully immerse theater-goers in a make-believe world complete with spells, curses, and talking animals. Contributions of fabric donated by Stan Gottlieb helped them make magic.

“MFTA was such an enormous help to us in creating our show,” writes Artistic Director Anaїs Koivisto. “The materials we collected from MFTA went toward costume construction for our show including creating the all-important fairy wings.”

Anaїs walks us through some of the ways the production repurposed found objects to design an enchanting set:

MOON:
   

“Our moon was the main focal point of our set. It was a total lucky find at MFTA – a huge metal wheel with a fake wreath attached – we think maybe it had been a Christmas display for a department store. We removed the wreath, wrapped the wheel in ribbon and covered it in a translucent fabric [both from MFTA].”

FAIRY WINGS:

“These were all built on wire frames, using a ton of scrap fabric from MFTA and lots of glue.”

BOOKS:

“We got stacks of books from MFTA, which were incorporated into one of my favorite stage pictures in the play and ALSO used in the most crucial point of the script.”

New to the Upper East Side cultural community, the Everyday Inferno Theater Company produces adventurous theater recreations of modern and classic texts and provides high-quality, accessible, and affordable art to the neighborhood. The company incorporated a “Neighborhood Night” into their limited run of Briar Rose with Pay-What-You-Can tickets for nearby residents and free admission for The Carter Burden Center for the Aging and Jan Hus Church program members. Keep an eye out for their production of Turn of the Screw, playwright James Wylies’ re-interpretation of Henry James’ ghost story.

Share pictures of your costume and set designs with us @mftanyc.

Photos by Acedarter (May 2013).

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Clappers aren’t just for sporting events and corporate conventions. Joe Rapp Inc donated over 20 boxes of these noisemakers to MFTA, and they can be reused to bring cheer and applause to your school or organization. With a little bit of innovation, they can become party favors or decorations at fundraising events and parties. They can also be transformed into educational tools for language arts, reading, and social studies programs. Make an appointment for a shopping day to grab some of these colorful clappers.

This week, third and fourth graders from K746 The Hebrew Language Academy Charter School visited our 35,000 square foot facility to learn ways to reduce and reuse. Inspired by clappers and other items from our treasure-filled warehouse, they created quirky hand puppets.

Paul Hinkson (above right) built his puppet using clappers, yarn, fabric, paper scraps, and beads.

Ideas for teachers: Use puppets to introduce narratives and creative storytelling or bring history to life by having students make puppets inspired by historical figures. Find out more ways you can integrate creative projects in all subjects by taking one of MFTA’s professional development workshops designed specifically for teachers.

Ideas for organizations: Decoupage the clappers with scrap paper from old promotional flyers and posters to create funky giveaways for end of year performances and fundraising events.  View our calendar to see upcoming Third Thursdays, where we host workshops open to the public and encourage creativity through arts reuse.

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The Domino sugar factory located in Brooklyn, viewed from Manhattan.

In what seemed like an episode of Breaking Bad, the Materials for the Arts (MFTA) crew went to the Domino Sugar Factory to collect hundreds of test tubes, beakers, and other incredible science equipment.

The Domino Factory has been a landmark of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn skyline. Built in 1882, the then called American Sugar Refining Company was a mogul of sugar distribution in the United States. Almost 120 years later, the factory closed its doors, and the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission gave landmarks status to three of its buildings only three years after.

interior shot

Last year, Two Trees Management Company bought the Domino site, and plans to develop the area. Recent architectural renderings show that thousands of residential and commercial units will be built, and of course, spaces for the arts will be a huge part of their development. Two Trees invited MFTA to loot the laboratories building and take all the science equipment available. In the words of Two Trees, “[we are] the new owners of the DOMINO Sugar Factory and it is an industrial masterpiece with a treasure trove’s worth of glass bottles and beakers in all shapes and sizes. These could be used in science labs in schools and/or artist projects galore”.

The excavation team

MFTA’s Jenny, Elizabeth and Antonio, as well as our star volunteer Paul, went to the site and gathered almost 500 pounds worth of incredible science equipment. Available as of today at the MFTA warehouse, we hope that these treasures will inspire artists, teachers, students, and the creative community.

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April 11, 2013 – May 10, 2013, M-F, 10:00-4:00 PM

Materials for the Arts is proud to present a group exhibition featuring mixed-media painting and sculpture by our staff.  Appropriation and re-purposing are the context in which these artists work every day.  Diverse artworks and practices emerge in this creative cross-section of the team that makes NYC’s premier reuse facility possible.

Antonio Ponton-Nunez

Audra-Lambert-bovine home and garden

Audra Lambert “Sentimental Value”

Barbara Iams Korein “Urban Trophies”

Cassie Lewis Slattery into the mystic

Chase Carlisle “Green Being”

Chase Carlisle “Blue Being”

Chase Carlsile red being

Elizabeth Masella landscape 2

Elizabeth Masella mountain landscape

Elizabeth Masella untitled

Erika White handbags

Gregory VandeHey collaborative windmill

Harriet Taub while you were away

Jenny Kraft green orbit

Joel Frank bull

Joel Frank chair

John cloud kaiser of freestyle arts Public intervention performance photo2

John cloud Kaiser of freestyle family Public intervention performance photo

John cloud Kaiser of freestyle family Art darts

Luisa Tamara installation recopilacion II

Marna Chester for steppenwolf

Sabu bird is visiting

Stella Belikiewicz map of regional attractions

Stella Belikiewicz the art of inclusion #13

Featured Artists:

Stella Belikiewicz
Chase Carlisle
Marna Chester
Dan Darbandi
Joel Frank
Sabu Granandos
John Cloud Kaiser
Barbara Iams Korein
Jenny Kraft
Audra Lambert
Doris Littlejohn
Elizabeth Masella
Louie Miranda
Antonio Ponton Nunez
Glen Rodgers
Joy Suarez
Cassie Lewis Slattery
Luisa Tamara
Harriet Taub
Gregory VandeHey
Erika White

Curated by Chase Carlisle

Also on display at MFTA Gallery:

-Olek, Reuse Crochet Environment: See the amazing work of this world renowned artist, who’s giant crochet installation is made out of the diverse textile materials available at MFTA.

-Ben Pederson, Long Forgotten Song: An exhibition of the artwork created by our Spring 2013 Artist In Residence will be on view Mon-Fri from 10:00 am-4:00 pm May 16- August 23. Visitors are welcome to come and see the many creative ways Pederson has repurposed materials from the MFTA warehouse.

You are invited to join us for the Art Opening for Ben Pederson, MFTA Artist In Residence on May 16th from 6 – 9 pm at the MFTA Gallery. This event is happening in conjunction with the LIC Arts Open 2013.

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Our resident Koinobori at home at MFTA

One of the benefits of working at MFTA is being exposed to the multitude of inspiring materials donated to us, and then meeting the people who turn them into works of art!

One fixture at MFTA is a large silk fish that hangs from the ceiling, often drawing lots of attention. We spoke with the Brooklyn Japanese American Family Association (BJAFA) who expressed an interest in our fish, and schooled us a bit about Japanese culture all the while. BJAFA told us their mission is to “provide and explore greater opportunities for the growing community of Japanese and Japanese-American families residing in Brooklyn…(We) strive to bring families together as (we) nurture the next generation with artistic and cultural education at times lacking in their daily routine.”
We learned that the Japanese name for our fish is Koi-nobori, or, a carp windsock. Every year on May 5th koi-nobori are raised throughout Japan to celebrate Kodomo No Hi or Children’s Day. Why carp? It is considered to be powerful and determined as it fights its way up swift-running streams and cascades. Traditionally the symbol for a holiday honoring boys, it now honors boys and girls alike.
BJAFA told us that last year the participating students in their after-school program at Brooklyn Nihongo Gakuen, designed and painted two 15 ft long carp with their handprints. This year they plan to do the same and add to their growing family of koinobori.

Kodomo No Hi activity day with BJAFA

Co-Founder & Director, Miki Yeung, and board member, Bonnie Elliott, expressed their gratitude to us:“MFTA has already been a tremendous help in allowing us to explore opportunities for expanding our art program… Our funding sources are primarily our families and quite limiting. MFTA support has enabled us to add to our art supply without putting a dent in our already tight budget and buoyed us in financially demanding times. By allowing us access to your warehouse, you have given our teachers the opportunity to more freely explore their artistic impulses within the framework of our curriculum. Put plainly, you have given us the opportunity to expand art education for our students and we thank you wholeheartedly for this.”

Not only do we get the satisfaction of helping BJAFA further their mission, we have a much greater appreciation for our resident carp!

Kodomo No Hi activity day with BJAFA

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This exhibit, To Preserve + Protect, focused on contemporary works by artists working in traditional media, was on view at Booklyn’s space from March 16 until April 27. On April 20, exhibit artist John Bocksel led a sign-making workshop that incorporated items found from an MFTA shopping trip, such as paper, rulers, cups and thread. When MFTA’s mission of creative arts reuse combines with Booklyn’s cultural preservation, great things happen for the arts in NYC.

(All photos courtesy of Booklyn, All Rights Reserved, photographed by Aimee Lusty)

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Ticketmaster chose MFTA to be the host site for a day of service on Friday, April 19th.  Nearly the entire New York office came to help out in the warehouse, about 25 employees strong. They spent the morning color-coding and sorting paint cans (one of our most popular group activities), as well as boxes of tile , paper, books, trim and fabric.

The group was very enthusiastic in helping out, and they were even willing to don some funny hats from a recent donation in their group photograph, which you can see above. One volunteer remarked that “everyone really enjoyed themselves and the staff at MFTA was a pleasure to work with.” Ticketmaster, you were a pleasure to work with as well! We hope to see you again in the warehouse.

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At the Brooklyn Grange Rooftop farm in LIC. Steps away from MFTA!

 What do Earth Day and Materials for the Arts have in common?  Everything!  Reusing , recycling, rethinking, sustainable best practices and general love of this planet we call home are all part of our mission.  Creative reuse activities abound at Materials for the Arts all year long – from workshops for students and professionals, to in-school residencies, to our Third Thursday Open Studios to the glorious work creatively constructed by our thousands of recipients.  Here is a list of some of the activities that we are participating in during Earth ‘Week’: http://www.mfta.org/event?page=1

From RRR book

Apropos to today’s theme, we received this book as a donation. Identifying themselves as an international group of talented friends, they’ve created a collection of recycled art. This is what their intro page says: “We make waste for a living. So now we’re gonna make waste live….look around your environment, see what you can save, pick it up, turn it over, and look at it in a different way…”

We encourage you to do the same. Look around your environment. How can you do your part to make the earth a little better?

Clip from Wasteland

Some ideas for inspiration:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/04/environmental_success_stories_on_earth_day_visit_places_saved_by_conservationists.html

Wasteland http://www.wastelandmovie.com/

No Impact Man http://noimpactproject.org/

Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm http://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/

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Don’t worry, they weren’t real lions – they were students from Columbia University’s student group Columbia Community Outreach (CCO). On Saturday, April 6, a group of 15 students volunteered at MFTA as part of their annual day of service. Every spring, CCO organizes a student-led day of volunteering during which over 1,000 students, faculty, staff, and alumni head out into neighborhoods all over the city and spend the day working together with community members and non-profit organizations like MFTA. We are proud to have taken part in this year’s day of service.

The group of 15 students who came to MFTA split up into smaller teams to sort and stock a multitude of donated items in the warehouse: hats, beads, trim, rubber bands, light bulbs, and fabric. They also helped out with one of our most popular group volunteer tasks: opening, labeling and sorting cans of paint. The students also enjoyed hearing more about what we do at MFTA. As you can tell, a lot was accomplished in a short amount of time. Overall, the day was a great success. Thanks again Columbia University!

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