One of Eugene’s best-kept art secrets sits unassumingly behind a cluster of parked cars on a lot far from campus. The Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts, located at 1235 Railroad Blvd., is dedicated to making art affordable and environmentally friendly.
Jennifer Fogerty-Gibson has served as MECCA’s executive director since summer 2002.
“MECCA specializes in diverting reusable materials from the waste stream and teaching people how to make something fun with it,” she said. “We’re an environmental organization, but the cornerstone of the organization is giving access to art to those that don’t have it.”
The inside of the building is crammed with trash-turned-art supplies. Five-gallon buckets overflow with colored straws; empty film canisters and medicine bottles, wood scraps, wires and small tins line one wall. Cardboard boxes burst at the seams with light bulbs, glass panes and hand-dyed yarn. Crowded film reels rest on one shelf; fabric scraps fill another. More shelving, running from floor to ceiling, sags from the weight of old tiles. Mosaic tile projects from a group of elementary students dry on a table in the center of the room.
Last August, all these materials were moved here from Lizzy Hughes’ garage. Hughes and Sara Grimm founded MECCA two and a half years ago — creating a place to divert reusable material from the BRING Recycling program, which had no indoor storage.
The idea for the materials exchange was inspired by SCRAP, a similar Portland organization.
“Sara knew about SCRAP; her sister was one of the founders,” Fogerty-Gibson said. ” And Lizzy saw a need for access to arts education and materials.”
The organization has grown from providing collage-making workshops for children to needing a second location. In addition to the existing warehouse, the arts group will soon open a studio and art gallery at 449 Blair Blvd. The new building will house art education programs and the “Junk Art Gallery.”
MECCA maintains its services through grants, volunteers and donations. A grant the group received in 2001 helped build the mosaic statue that stands at 4th Avenue and Blair Boulevard. Local crafters built the statue to symbolize the spirit of community in the Whiteaker area.
Fogerty-Gibson said the materials exchange focuses
on community.
“Arts bridge a gap,” she said. “When people get together and start creating things, they get inspired by each other’s ideas. It’s a place to form a bond. It gives people ownership of the community and a way of talking to each other that’s nonverbal.”
Fogerty-Gibson said the exchange also benefits the community as a source for low-cost art supplies. People who may not otherwise be able to afford to participate in art can get involved without draining their bank accounts.
University junior and MECCA intern Liz Edwards agreed.
“I really want people, especially art students and people who are into crafts, to know about this place as a resource for buying art supplies so their first resource isn’t Oregon Art Supply or the bookstore,” Edwards said.
The warehouse is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesdays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Materials range in price from around 10 cents to a few dollars. People can also bring in donations for store credit. Fogerty-Gibson said those who plan to exchange items should call ahead to make sure the warehouse can use the articles.
Montana Rohrback has patronized MECCA since October, amassing CDs.
“I’m taking CDs and riveting them together to make a giant geodesic dome,” Rohrback said. He is using the discs to fill in the panels that make up the dome, which he will use to reflect light for photography projects. He plans on taking the dome to the Burning Man celebration.
“Creativity gives me an outlet to relax and to release myself,” Rohrback said.
Fogerty-Gibson credits people like Rohrback with making her job enjoyable.
“The energy of everyone’s excitement makes this a nice place to work,” she said. “People will come in, and their entire face lights up. That sounds cheesy, but it really happens. People get really excited about finding a new way to do something with ordinary materials.”