Upcycle Arts Transforms Waste Into Sustainable Art

Walking into the Upcycle Arts facility in east Charlotte is like entering the mind of an artist. There’s a chaotic unity of materials separated in their own respective sections but collected together all the same under fluorescent lights and signs that read “Sewing,” “Jewelry,” “Craft” and “Paper.” 

Area rugs and rolls of fabric protrude from a steel drum just feet from a chalkboard with “Draw on me” scribbled across the top above sketches of mushrooms, cats, dogs, and a mermaid. Even if just visiting for a simple re-up on paintbrushes or crochet needles, it’s impossible not to leave feeling inspired. 

Upon Queen City Nerve’s visit to the small shop in the Eastway Crossing shopping center, Upcycle Arts executive director Angela Kollmer pointed out that ‘creative reuse’ stores like Upcycle Arts — centers that sell upcycled materials and craft supplies — exist two hours away in every cardinal direction from Charlotte, but none in the city itself. None save for Upcycle Arts. 

Inspired by creative reuse centers like The Scrap Exchange in Durham, Kollmer started hosting Upcycle Arts booths at vendor events in September 2020, having obtained a 501c3 nonprofit status for her new project. She quickly realized that people at such events are mostly looking for finished products rather than shopping for art supplies. 

So, Kollmer leaned on a certain clientele that appreciates the creative freedom of assorted materials, setting up shop at children’s events and watching as kids found any and all uses for her arts and craft supplies.

She traded her storage unit for a 170-square-foot room in the basement of the VAPA Center in Uptown Charlotte. 

“[It] was amazing to just have something to point to and say ‘This is what we’re trying to accomplish,” she said.

Donations and pickups were by appointment only and the store relied on volunteers to help sort through contributions. No matter the size of the space, the idea of diverting waste from landfills and providing the community with affordable art supplies has remained the same, said Heidi Baggott, Upcycle Arts’ first employee. 

With no other creative reuse centers within 100 miles, Kollmer and Baggott built a following of loyal customers, some of whom would travel hours just to get to them.

Nearly four years after its inception, Upcycle Arts’ first brick-and-mortar storefront, located at 3046A Eastway Drive between Bart’s Mart and Book Buyers, opened on Earth Day weekend of this year. It’s a huge leap from Kollmer’s humble beginnings, but she insists she’s just getting started. 

Making materials affordable

Kollmer said the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive since her April opening, particularly for makers and artists looking for a more accessible price point among materials.

Sewing your own clothing used to be the cheaper option for fashion-forward creatives, Kollmer said, but now it’s more economical to buy a $5 shirt from a fast-fashion provider that will last a month before it’s tossed in the trash. Online shopping also makes that option far more convenient than buying the thread, fabric and materials to make it yourself.

Textile waste from the fast-fashion industry accounts for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, with 92 million tons of waste produced every year. To counteract the rising financial and environmental cost of fast fashion, Upcycle Arts prices supplies by weight or at a fraction of the original cost. 

“There is a need for us here,” Kollmer said. “It’s nice that we’re able to help people still create and learn to do that and educate our customer base on the sustainable option.”

Kollmer didn’t start thinking about her own consumer habits until the pandemic. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t really buy from small businesses or I don’t think where I put my money is part of my social power,’” she said. “So I think that’s super important for us… the customer education piece.” 

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Kollmer emphasizes that buying secondhand offers customers a more diverse range of items than they would find at a big-box arts and crafts store, while also allowing them to avoid contributing to mass-produced waste.

The Upcycle team also hosts impactful events that go beyond retail. In February 2023, the organization partnered with the city of Charlotte’s Storm Water Services to move 130,000 pounds of leather that would have otherwise been thrown out.

The city purchased the warehouse from a local leather worker and the 10,000-square-foot facility was full, floor to ceiling, with cut leather. The leather needed to be moved for the city to tear the building down and make way for a greenspace, and Upcycle helped keep it out of the landfill. 

Kollmer hopes to someday work with more large organizations to prevent mass material waste, knowing that large businesses come with a large amount of waste that they don’t always have the space to store or means to move. 

Most donations come from individuals, but Kollmer urges bigger businesses to veer away from the blanket consumerism tactic of offering everything to everyone rather than honing in on a specific audience, which would lead to less waste.

Upcycle Arts offers specific products for an array of people. Teachers have a place to gather supplies for their classrooms with a special discount, parents can feed their children’s wandering creative interests, and hobbyists and professional artists can increase their profit margins.

The retail space at Eastway Crossing started with 800 pounds of arts and crafts supplies on display. Thanks to crafters hoping to give their retired projects a new life, the shop has added another 10,000 pounds in the four months since its opening.

Baggott said materials given to donation centers run the risk of being thrown away and adding to landfill waste. Upcycle Arts has the space and means to hold onto items longer than most people and brings them comfort in knowing they will go to good use.

“You don’t want to give [those] supplies to a place that might throw it away,” Baggott said. “And knowing that here, it’s going to find a new home and be used in the way that it was initially intended … people are going to give this life and love and they’re going to be very appreciated.”

The art of repurposing 

Kollmer aims to continue offering people affordable prices in whatever creative space they occupy while urging all residents to shift their mindset away from shopping big-box stores that contribute to a growing environmental crisis. 

Now that it’s not just Kollmer and a handful of volunteers in a storage closet, her vision to develop partnerships and programs is growing to meet the demands of her community.

As of now, Upcycle Arts offers senior crafts day, but Kollmer hopes to soon add fixed sewing, crochet and knitting classes to the regular schedule while partnering with local artists to lead workshops in their specific style.

She added that a lot of effort goes into sorting and organizing materials, an endeavor led by volunteers who sign up online to work on Wednesdays and Sundays. Having started as a volunteer with Upcycle Arts, Baggott can’t speak highly enough of the work’s impact on her. 

“It’s a fun way to get involved in the community,” Baggott said. “It’s just been a pure joy, working here and seeing… the energy of excitement.”

The impact the store has created in the community is seen in the level of passion its customers carry for their projects. Folks share stories, tips and tricks among the aisles and plans for their materials with Baggott at the register.

“It gives me pride, knowing you’re helping people tap into that creative side,” Baggott said.  

Baggott previously worked for an architecture and design firm, where she saw firsthand the level of waste produced by libraries of amassed samples. She took to dumpster diving to collect tiles that she used as dry erase blocks for events she organized.

“I’m always thinking of ways to reuse and repurpose,” Baggott said. “There’s always something, you just have to get creative and think outside the box.”

Nothing awakens the creative mind like upcycled materials. This is where children hold the power, Kollmer said. Adults confine themselves to the idea of a finished product rather than taking a step back to appreciate the process of creating something.

During a collage workshop with Arts+, one woman was drawn to a photo within a calendar from 1975. When the woman didn’t know where to start on her project, Kollmer had to encourage her to cut out the picture because she didn’t think she could.

Once she cut the photo out, she was struck by the muse, recalled Kollmer. She had the freedom to repurpose an old calendar that no one was using into something that became her own.

“You can break it. It’s okay,” Kollmer told her. “That’s why we’re here.”