AN innovative new community arts scheme is due to begin in Tavistock early next year ? and with Christmas fast approaching, organisers are asking residents to bear them in mind.
Tavistock Community Scrapstore is a new project being run by the Integrated Arts Group at the Molly Owen Centre. The scrapstore will be a new resource, full of exciting and interesting odds and ends which will inspire the imagination and be used for a wide variety of artistic creations.
Sally Christopher, who is running the project, said:
?So far people have been really positive and enthusiastic about it. I think everyone, from local artists to the borough council, when we?ve mentioned it have said ?Wow, that?s really good?.
The Scrapstore will be a treasure-trove of oddments for art, including brightly coloured carrier bags, shiny sweet wrappers, fruit nets, wool scraps, fabric remnants, unwanted CDs and even empty tubes of tomato purée!
?If you open them out, they?re fantastic!? said Sally. ?Local traders are saving packaging from groceries, supermarkets are saving us stuff, florists are saving us bits of ribbon ? we want anything that has any kind of creative potential.?
Anyone will be able to make use of the Scrapstore ? nursery schools, playgroups, schools, community groups or families.
It is due to open by February next year, when people can come along on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 3pm. Customers will pay £5 to become a member, then just a small amount every time they collect scrap.
?We will also be holding exhibitions, workshops and on-going displays, showing people what can be done with scrap ? we are hoping it will become a really creative centre, where people can come and exchange information and ideas,? said Sally.
The project, which is being supported by West Devon Borough Council and WestDEN, aims to create an environmentally friendly and stimulating art resource, run on a non-profit making basis.
The Integrated Arts Group, which will run the Scrapstore, originally started with students from the Molly Owen Centre. It has now expanded and includes many people from the community with disabilities or special needs.
Sally said: ?The Scrapstore isn?t a Molly Owen venture ? it?s based there but it?s for everyone in the community.?
She said she would be contacting more local businesses within the next few weeks to consider saving packaging and scrap for the store ? and she hoped people would remember the project during the Christmas period.
?Christmas is a brilliant time for packaging? she said.
Stored scrap can either be dropped off at the Molly Owen Centre, or donations can be picked up by prior arrangement, said Sally.
A taster of the type of artwork which can be inspired by the scrapstore can be seen at Tavistock Library throughout November.
Anyone interested in saving scrap materials for re-use and recycling through the Scrapstore, who would like more information about the scheme, should call Sally Christopher on 01822 612981.