Hello, pleased to meet you.

We're new around here and we're pleased you're visiting.  Who are we and what do we do, you ask?  

What

Collective Upcycle is a pop-up boutique, popping up for a specific amount of time in an empty retail space and then popping down. It is thoughtful, funky, and innovative space filled with the goods of reuse* artists who make their work by hand, often by starting with raw material that others cast away or discard.

When

Collective Upcycle is popping up under this name for the very first time this June. We’ll open on Saturday June 11^th and stay open every day for three weeks  (except Mondays) until Sunday, July 3^rd.

Where

We’ll be in the big & beautiful Near West Loftworks building at 6710 Detroit Avenue, in the heart of Gordon Square Arts District.  With floor to ceiling storefront windows and 3500 square feet, it will be colorful, energetic, and bustling with visitors.  (We’re next door to the newly opened Sweet Moses Soda Fountain & Treat Shop!)

Who

This effort is being organized by Nicole McGee, a reuse artist and founder of Plenty Underfoot LLC, a small business that brings together

excess waste/materials, creativity and community.   Approximately 30 local reuse artists will partner with Nicole to fill the boutique and some will also lead activities and workshops in the space. 

Why

Collective Upcycle is a collective demonstration of the bustling creative reuse economy already underway in Cleveland.   We live in an area rich with resources for creative reuse.  It’s an exciting time to be reusing, and joining in with others to build community around this work/art is what Collective Upcycle is all about.

How

Collective Upcycle functions like a regular retail business with low overhead since we don’t maintain a location year round.   Artists receive 70% of the proceeds of the goods they sell in our boutique and we collectively share responsibility for promoting & spreading the word like dandelion seeds in the wind. 

*To reuse is to take something that was used before and use it again. Reuse artists often transform an original material in some way that adds value to it (sometimes called upcycling).

For more information, email:  nicole@plentyunderfoot.com