Aerial photo to open Scrap Exchange capital drive

DURHAM -- On Sunday, a cherry picker will lift photographer Jeremy M. Lange high above Durham Central Park as local folk spread out to create a sea of blue below.

Lange is going up to take an aerial photograph of residents and their art arranged in a human replica of the city of Durham's yellow, red and blue flag.

Besides making a striking picture, Lange's purpose is to publicize The ScrapExchange's $5 million campaign to secure its future and find a home of its own.

The exchange, a 19-year-old Durham institution, gives artists, do-it-yourselfers and kids a chance to reuse stuff that normally ends up in the trash. The nonprofit shop leases space on a month-to-month basis in the old Liberty Warehouse on Foster Street in the Central Park District downtown.

But the space is small, cramped and dirty. So the exchange is out to raise $5 million for a building of its own, the seed of an endowment and other needs.

"What we're really looking for is long-term stability and more control over our space and what we can do with it," said Rebecca Currie, the Scrap Exchange treasurer.

Fittingly, the community photo idea grew out of a portrait of recycling: "The Waste Land," a documentary about Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and his plan to use garbage to create portraits of people who search for recyclable material in Jardin Gramacho, the world's largest landfill.

After seeing the movie at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival last spring, Chris Chinchar of Durham and others wondered, "Could we do something like this? Could we celebrate Durham using our castaways?"

That led to a public meeting at The Scrap Exchange with a theme of "What does Durham mean to you?" said Ann Woodward, the Scrap Exchange executive director.

"There was a lot of love in the room," Woodward said, and there the idea for a community portrait was born.

On Sunday, participants will gather wearing and carrying blue clothing, costumes, random objects such as stuffed animals and blankets, and ad hoc art projects. Over the past month, The Scrap Exchange has hosted free workshops for anyone interested in making part of the picture.

Among those have been three generations of the Mantler/Headrick family, stapling and gluing together an evolving scene, using a blue devil, felt, broken CDs, and milk and bottle caps. The exercise is teaching Zella Mantler, who is nearly 3, about the creative process and community, said her parents, Gordan Mantler and Christina Headrick.

"I think anything that encourages the community to come together and create is fabulous," Headrick said.

To the first-time visitor, the Scrap Exchange can be intimidating: so many items in so little space. Last year's donations totaled 38,000 pounds of assorted stuff. Someone looking to remodel a house can find paint, wood, doorknobs and carpet. Teachers can find binders for a quarter and tons of items for art or science projects. Customers may come for low prices or the satisfaction of recycling.

The Scrap Exchange was founded in 1991 in donated space at Northgate Mall. It moved in January 2000 to its current 8,000 square feet and hopes to double that space in a new building.

Its capital campaign has already received $125,000 in pledges from individuals and foundations. Although $5 million is "a huge amount for us," Woodward said, she thinks the organization will get a lot of community support -- though she is looking nationally for large grants.

Unlike many other nonprofits, The Scrap Exchange makes more than 90 percent of its income from sales and fees for service. Woodward intends the current fundraising drive to be the only one; that is why the goal is so large.

Of the $5 million total, $1.5 million is planned to go for the building, preferably still in the Central Park area. Another $1.5 million would enlarge the staff and add programs; $1 million would go to the building fund; and $1 million would start an endowment.

The Scrap Exchange is one of 40-some reuse centers across the country and the only nonprofit one in North Carolina.

"We are known as a national model for creative reuse centers," Woodward said. Calls for advice on setting up similar operations come from around the world.