A rare picture of Bill’s front side (had to sneak up on him and capture him near a mirror).

Bill made this table, suitable for a bedroom or a large front hall, from Buffalo ReUsed Materials. He and Tracy brought it over to the ReSource the other day, where it’s on sale (all proceeds benefit our community programs) for $200.

Come on by and check it out!

Dennis Maher – lover of all things deconstructed, and we don’t mean words and sentences and paragraphs . . .

Carl Lee – our favorite filmmaker; his exhibited work will be familiar to demolition fans . . .

JM Reed – photographer, real estate broker and supporter/advisor of Buffalo housing activists such as ourselves . . .

All three are exhibiting at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College. Opening reception is this Sunday, 2pm to 4pm.

One awesome idea is the counter made of books. It would be especially cool for a bookstore, though it would work anywhere. Let’s face it, everyone has a collection of hard cover books that they’re likely to never read again (especially with all this new e-book technology) so why not reuse them in a productive way?

Or, if you have kids who have outgrown their lego phase, how about this idea? Very unique and it would make a great conversation piece when you have guests over! It just takes a lot of patience…and about 20,000 lego pieces. But I would LOVE it if someone gave one of these ideas a try!!

View a slideshow of the series of art from the Lewiston Library here!!

Next wednesday, March 10th

If it is nice outside, plan on being outdoors catching some rays and fresh air. Hopefully the weather will be like it has been this week.

I have included a previous blog from one of my colleagues that was written in the past. It includes a great history of tin ceiling as well as the steps that are involved in tin ceiling restoration that we will be partaking in. 

Some may think tin ceiling is out of date, but with a little creativity anyone can come up with different uses for it and bring back its original sublimity. Come next week to find out some neat ways!

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors and chrome…coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.

3. Filter broken cork from wine – If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

4. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

5. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

6. Use as a disposable snack bowl for popcorn, chips, etc. Less dishes to wash.

7. Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

8. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

9. Keep in the bathroom, they make good “razor nick fixers”.

10. Protect china by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

<–One crafty person made a dress out of coffee filters!

And if none of these ideas sound good to you, they are always great to use in your coffee maker.

We will be holding two “handmade holidays” workshops this February. The first is on Wednesday, February 3rd, and the holiday we’re celebrating is the Super Bowl (ok ok, not technically a holiday but it could be). We will be making coasters to be put to use during your Super Bowl Party. The workshop will run from 4-5pm at 158 Eaton St.

The second workshop is the following week, Wednesday February 10th. This time we’re celebrating Valentine’s Day. Come to 158 Eaton St. to make romantic candlesticks out of spindles from old staircases. What a great way to ReUse! The workshop will run from 4-5pm.  For both there is no fee, but a suggested donation of $5.

Hope to see you there!!

p.s. Artists may still submit entries until the 15th contact refindarts {at} buffaloreuse(.)org
call for artists

The Heidelberg Project is structured as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the morale, lives and neighborhoods through art. “It is not simply art,” says Guyton, “the Heidelberg Project is more like a medicine. You can’t heal the land until you heal the minds of the people.”

Another unique artists’ neighborhood exists in Houston, TX where artist Rick Lowe created a space where artists and the public exchange community back and forth. Project Row Houses transformed 22 dilapidated shotgun houses into studio and exhibition spaces for artists to work and live and share with one another. The artist are selected and rotate out of the row houses every six months.

Please do not dismiss the value artists bring a community. Artists are boundary pushers and they know how to sacrifice and translate vision into reality. To hear more about the Heidelberg Project and Project Row House from the artists themselves, please join us at the Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference 2008! Register for the conference before October 9th to receive the discounted rate.

We hope you’ll be as excited as we are to speak with Tyree Guyton and Jennene Whitfield from Heidelberg Project and our other keynote speakers including:

• Michael W. Groman, Senior Director, Philadelphia Green Program, Philadelphia, PA. Groman’s program transforms and maintains thousands of vacant lots to increase economic investment and improve the quality of life in hundreds of Philadelphia neighborhoods.
• Jay Williams, Mayor of the City of Youngstown, Ohio has no illusions that he resides over a shrinking city, in fact, he fully embraces the “shrinking city” concept. His administration plans to strengthen the urban center through right-sizing; neighborhoods that are emptying out will be converted to greenspace through targeted demolition and development.
• and others in the field of hybrid deconstruction and building reuse.

The conference is about putting you in same room with ideas and policy makers who can enable similar projects for Buffalo (or where ever you’re living).

Great Lakes Building ReUse Conference
November 16 – 18, 2008
Hyatt Regency Buffalo
www.greatlakesreuse.org

1.716.885.4131
2008conference {at} greatlakesreuse(.)org