The RECYCLED FURNITURE PROJECT

The Recycled Furniture Project takes broken or discarded furniture and materials and repairs and rebuilds them. The project is run by four artists; Chad McCail, a painter, Eliza Gilchrist, a sculptor, Neil McArthur, a furniture maker and a group support worker.

The project is administrated by out of the blue arts trust. We work with young ex-homeless people who have recently been re-housed into unfurnished accommodation.

We aim to challenge the young people's idea of waste by recycling, teach them basic design, construction skills and tool-use and show how, with creativity, they can make useful items for their homes from "rubbish" at very little cost. The group have made/revamped chairs, tables, lights and lamps, blankets, shelves, paintings and sculpture.

We have furniture and materials donated to us, collect broken items from the street and encourage the young people to source items themselves.

The project began in June 2000 with a Year of The Artist grant supporting young people from The Bridges One Door Initiative, many of whom still attend and spread the word among their peers. We have also worked with groups from Fairbrige, and Moving On, and individuals from The Ark, and 6VT café..

The group have exhibited at The New Street Exhibition Space in November 2000 with funding from Year of The Artist, and at The Collective Gallery in January 2002 with funding from The Millennium Awards. They have also been commissioned by The Cuckfield Group to make public artworks for hoardings on Lady Lawson Street.

The success of the project has led to funding for a feasibility study, funded by Community Enterprise Ltd. to turn the project into a self-supporting social enterprise.

The workshop takes place once a week on Friday afternoons, between 2-5pm. We have dedicated workshop space at 8 New Street, Edinburgh.

For further information contact:

Rob Hoon
out of the blue
6 New Street
Edinburgh
EH8 8DW
Tel: 0131 557 6448
email: rob@outoftheblue.org.uk

or:

Eliza Gilchrist
Tel: 07813 827 883
email: eliza-jane@excite.com