The Foundry

Since 1978, millions of items have come through the doors of Materials for the Arts to be repurposed, reused and reimagined.   A few years ago, we thought it would be exciting to highlight some of the more unusual, eclectic and downright weird items that have come our way.  This show is the culmination of that… Read More »LOST AND FOUND AT MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS 1978 – 2018

STEAMing Forward: 2018 Summer Workshops for Educators Group Show. Each summer, MFTA offers four 36-hour courses for educators that highlight Creative Reuse across all grade levels and subject areas. Taught by Master Teacher Joy Suarez, these courses included paper architecture, fiber arts, stop-motion animation, music composition and instrument making using the project-based learning approach. Using… Read More »Steaming Forward

Materials for the Arts is pleased to present Concrete Jungle, a solo exhibition of mixed-media and sculptural works by artist-in-residence Annalisa Iadicicco. Breathing new life and repurposing material that would otherwise have been left to wither and age compels Annalisa Iadicicco to create her work. Through her installations and sculptures, Iadicicco speaks to social injustices… Read More »Concrete Jungle

Materials for the Arts is pleased to present "Sol’Sain’t Many Kin: All Sol’Skin Is A Free Kin", a solo exhibition of mixed-media assemblage and sculptural works by artist-in-residence Sol’Sax. Retracing the lives and lessons of revered figures, Sol’Sax turns everyday objects extraordinary. Icons such as Josephine Baker, Fela Kuti and Muhammad Ali appear in the… Read More »Sol’Sain’t Many Kin: All Sol’Skin is a Free Kin

Contemporary Reuse is an exhibit that brings together the work of current and impactful artists who celebrate reusable materials in their art practice. Sculptures made of car bumpers, fabric scraps, old puzzles, and cut-off wooden blocks, meet with collages made of shredded and ripped paper, alongside performances using metal hardware as instruments and textiles. Featuring… Read More »Contemporary Reuse

Twisted Woven Tied features 51 stunning works crafted from a wide range of culturally resonant materials. The items are not merely reused but are manipulated into new identities; ribbons knotted into upright forms, yarns cinched into bulbous figures and sisal ropes binding objects together. The use of discarded materials summons the harmony of lived experiences,… Read More »Twisted Woven Tied: Dianne Smith

While advances in technology have made physical photographic slides obsolete, this exhibition, created entirely from the recently digitized slide collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, reinvents the format as a new artistic medium. Materials for the Arts, the creative re-use center of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art… Read More »Institutional Memory: 35mm Slides From the Met’s Collection Reimagined

“Found and Funky,” a solo exhibition of mixed media and assemblage works produced by artist Michael Kelly Williams. Drawing inspiration from the expansive collection of found objects available in the MFTA warehouse, “Found” conveys the sense of affirmation in discovering new objects, while “Funky” pays homage to a popular jazz term used to convey praise… Read More »Found and Funky: Michael Kelly Williams

Skip LaPlante builds musical instruments out of broken glass, ceramic tea saucers, kitchen utensils, door keys, crooked nails, belt buckles, and rainbow-colored plastic toppers whose origins are unknown. This exhibition invites you to play music on these 130 wind chimes created entirely out of reusable materials by LaPlante, many of which were completed recently during… Read More »A Symphony of Chimes

In a series of new works made out of leather remnants from the production of luxury accessories, Jean Shin reconstructs the “body” of these hides. These industry remnants hint at the elaborate manufacturing process that transforms raw materials into consumer products. The enigmatic voids that remain promise an object of desire that can never be… Read More »Jean Shin: Spring Collection

MFTA is pleased to present ‘Blonde Ambition’, a solo exhibition of collage work produced by New York-based artist Juan Hinojosa during his fall artist residency. Featuring 12 new collage works, Hinojosa continues his exploration of consumerism with vivid imagery created by juxtaposing discarded objects found in the Materials for the Arts warehouse.