RE-ART + THE RENEWAL SOCIETY

Funding from Greening Greenfield and Crossroads Cultural District will enable a multi-month focus on Reclaiming, Repairing, Reusing, and Repurposing as LAVA and Redistro team up to offer workshops over the summer and fall.

RE-ART, a LAVA project and THE RENEWAL SOCIETY, a Redistro project join forces for people of all ages and experience levels to raise awareness while learning new skills, making new friends, and having fun. Keep an eye on the LAVA calendar for a series of art-making workshops featuring a half-dozen or more techniques for creating with materials that are otherwise destined for landfill, and ten workshops focusing on how we can extend the life of our belongings by learning maintenance and mending techniques for common household goods. Both workshop series launch on Saturday, August 15.

The Crossroads Cultural District granted funds to support RE-ART and Greening Greenfield stepped up with funding allocated to both projects. At that point, collaboration between LAVA and Redistro quite naturally emerged. A full schedule of RE-ART workshops and RENEWAL SOCIETY workshops is being developed and will be announced in late-July.

The LAVA Center is an arts and humanities incubator in downtown Greenfield whose mission is to create opportunities in and through the arts and humanities. Programs include play readings, film screenings, visual art displays, literary readings, open mics, comedy workshops and performances, community conversations, and musical offerings. Social and environmental justice are core values held at LAVA, and all programs are offered either free or at low, sliding-scale cost. No one is ever turned away for inability to pay. The RE-ART Project will offer a variety of workshops to learn how to make art with repurposed, reclaimed, and reused materials, and will culminate with a community art show in November featuring work created by project participants.

Redistro is a mutual aid collective dedicated to building community locally through the redistribution of our shared abundance. Their community members envisioned a series of focused workshops building on the very popular repair fairs that have been held from time to time in Franklin County. What if people could not only have their household items repaired, but learn how to do it themselves? This vision is actualized in THE RENEWAL SOCIETY project, which focuses on re-using and reclaiming through the art and craft of repair. Participants will learn specific skills to extend the life of their own household belongings.

Both projects are planning a public art element that will display artwork outdoors or in store windows along Main Street.

All of the RENEWAL SOCIETY workshops will begin promptly on Saturdays at 9:30am, with doors open at 9:15; and will run for two hours, with a break. RE-ART workshops will begin at noon.

Artists who work with reclaimed and repurposed materials who would like to share their techniques are invited to contact The LAVA Center to propose a workshop session. Email info@thelavacenter.org with RE-ART in the subject line, and a staff member will get back to you to explore the possibilities.

This collaboration is supported by The Greenfield Recorder, 2026 Season Sponsor of The LAVA Center; Dog Hollow Press, 2026 Community Building Sponsor, by Community Foundation of Western Mass and Mass Cultural Council who provide general operating support, and with special project support from Greening Greenfield and Crossroads Cultural District.

For more information about RE-ART or THE RENEWAL SOCIETY, email info@thelavacenter.org