UpCycle Creative Reuse Center Announces Opening of New Materials Center in Alexandria
By Katherine Amberg
Alexandria, VA – UpCycle Creative Reuse Center is thrilled to announce the opening of its new materials center this month at 2397 S Dove Street in Alexandria. A one-of-a-kind community resource, UpCycle is a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing usable materials from the waste stream and repurposing them as creative supplies for artists, makers, and educators.
The opening of this new location follows the unexpected loss of UpCycle’s former space on Eisenhower Avenue earlier this year. “Losing our space was a tremendous setback,” said Executive Director Kathryn Amberg. “But sometimes things happen for a reason, and now that our new space is finally coming to life—it feels like this was meant to be.”
For more than 13 years, UpCycle has served as Alexandria’s only creative reuse center, offering low-cost materials to teachers, families, artists, students, and environmentally conscious community members. Its material center serves as the organization’s headquarters, where the community is welcome to shop for creative supplies and drop off donations by appointment.
“People travel from all over to shop at our materials center and to bring us their donations,” Amberg noted. “We’ve received so many inquiries about our reopening—it’s clear the community has missed us. And we have certainly missed them.”
In addition to its retail shop, UpCycle offers sustainability-focused programming for adults, children, and educators. The new Dove Street location includes a dedicated program space—a first for the organization—as well as expanded square footage and improved accessibility so that all visitors may access and experience UpCycle’s retail space and programming with equal enjoyment.
Details for the organization’s grand opening celebration in January will be shared soon. Learn more or subscribe to the monthly newsletter at www.upcyclecrc.org, and follow @UpCycleCRC on social media.
