Enterprise: rePlay Arts aims to help
people tap into their creativity — regardless of cost

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The bright, well-lit space at rePlay Arts at 87 Maple St. offers a variety of arts material and separate spaces for classes and organizing donations. A craft table near the entrance invites anyone to try making something or adding on to a project that others have already started.

The space is the third that the nonprofit has occupied since its founding in a storage unit in January 2023. It later moved to a small space on Maple Street but soon outgrew that space, which led to the move to the current location.

“Four years ago, we never would have imagined what this has become,” Jamie Rosenfeld, one of the group’s founders, said during an interview at rePlay Arts with her co-founder, Melanie Adsit.

It took the pair a few years before they settled on their idea for “creative reuse” of arts and crafts material. Once they did put that idea into action, however, they discovered a niche market that has succeeded beyond the pair’s expectations.

“It was so clear we were onto something because we kept outgrowing our space,” Rosenfeld said. “We were clearly meeting a need for the shoppers and the donors.”

The journey to opening rePlay can be traced to 2011 when Rosenfeld and Adsit worked together at the Whitney Museum in New York City and discovered they both had connections to the Upper Valley. Adsit’s husband is from Hanover. Rosenfeld went to summer camp in the Upper Valley and was dating her future husband, who is from the area.

Rosenfeld moved to the Upper Valley five years ago and worked at the Hood Museum, running its outreach education program. Adsit and her husband moved here three years ago.

Before launching rePlay, the women, both arts educators, did their research by talking to others in the Upper Valley arts community.

“We tried to figure out what this community needed,” Rosenfeld said. “We asked where is there a need we can fill with our expertise in a way that we are not recreating what already exists. And the more we talked to people, the more we realized there was a hole here we could fill.”

The mission of rePlay Arts is to encourage the reuse of art supplies, expand the creative experience for everyone — regardless of means — and build community.

“We do not want anyone’s financial situation to stand in the way of them having access to high quality materials or the arts experience,” Rosenfeld said.

“Or limiting their creativity,” Adsit added.

Rosenfeld related a story of a woman who saw a loom at rePlay she had been searching for the last 10 years. The woman was “in tears” because she knew it was worth about $200 but she only had $25. Rosenfeld and Adsit didn’t have to think twice about selling it for $25.

“Our most important value is that these materials and experiences are affordable and accessible to everyone,” Rosenfeld said.

rePlay Arts has a “pay-what-you-can” pricing policy.

“Our creative reuse art shop and all of our programs are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis,” the rePlay website states. “Whether buying materials at the sho, or attending a workshop, you can pay whatever amount is right for you.”

Rosenfeld and Adsit encourage those with the means to shop and donate what they can, because their contributions support both the store and the education programs and allows rePlay to offer reduced-cost materials and programs to those with financial need.

Everything rePlay Arts sells in its store is donated as well as nearly all of the materials for classes, though on occasion there may be a purchase for a class, such as wicks for candle making.

Rosenfeld and Adsit said they don’t like hearing stories of teachers paying for art materials for their students.

“We say, ‘If you have a budget, great. But we don’t want you paying out of pocket,’ ” Adsit said.

When they started the nonprofit, Rosenfeld and Adit solicited donations through local listservs and social media. The response was immediate and surprising. Word spread, donations rolled in and soon one storage unit was filled, followed by another. While the pair did outreach at community events and gave materials away, it wasn’t long before shoppers came to the storage unit.

“We never expected people to come to us,” Adsit said.

When they began seeking donations, the women were a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response.

“Crafters and artists love their materials, and they take good care of them,” Rosenfeld said. “They want to know they are going into good hands.”

As people brought them donations, Rosenfeld and Adsit said they heard a similar story over and over.

“People would say, ‘We’ve been holding on this for 30 years and we don’t know what to do with it and are so happy you can get it into the hands of someone who can use it,’ ” Rosenfeld said.

Since it opened, rePlay Arts has collected more than 20,000 pounds of art material, which realizes another goal: keeping stuff out of landfills.

“We don’t track specific inventory of what comes in or leaves the store,” Rosenfeld said. “It would be impossible. We only measure pounds of material donated/kept out of landfills.”

A lot of donations are fabric, sewing notions and yarn. But as far as what customers are searching for, the women said there is a very wide range of materials. Watercolor paper and drawing and painting materials often go quickly.

“It is also about shifting the mindset to sustainability,” Rosenfeld said. “We want people to think before throwing something out: ‘Can I or someone else use it?’ ”

The creative reuse focus has made them better arts educators, Adsit said.

“ ‘Oh, you have this weird roll of plastic. I’m going to make puppets,’ instead of, ‘I want to make puppets, what do I need?’ ” Adsit said. “It is that shift in thinking toward sustainability that inspires creativity in a special way and keeps stuff out of the trash.”

They have worked with numerous contemporary artists with “so many, wonderful, wacky ideas about materials and how to use them,” Rosenfeld said.

“We are constantly introduced to new ways to look at objects,” she added.

Sharon Beaufait, of Enfield, shops weekly at rePlay for materials to create collages.

“Every week there is new stuff and they do a great job organizing it,” Beaufait said about Rosenfeld and Adsit while selecting a few items. “I tell everyone I know to come here.”

Before opening rePlay Arts, Rosenfeld and Adsit said there were no organizations based on the concept of creative reuse for art supplies in either New Hampshire or Vermont. But four more — Craft and Found Exchange in Grantham, The Makery in Burlington, reMake at The Mint in Rutland and DIY Craft and Thrift in Concord — have opened since rePlay Arts started and the women say that is good for accessibility.

“The more there is of this, the better it is for everybody,” Adsit said.

Recently, rePlay Arts launched an Artcycle Community Program to bring local crafters, artists and others together to build connections through hands-on projects from the viewpoint of reuse, sustainability and creativity.

Though they co-founded rePlay founders and are the co-directors of rePlay, Rosenfeld and Adit said the community of donors and volunteers is how they are able to manage and grow their nonprofit. rePlay Arts’s 34 volunteers help sort, organize, display and price items and the store is always looking for more people interested in giving some time.

“People have reached out to us and say, ‘We love what you are doing, can we volunteer?’ ” said Rosenfeld, who added they can always use more volunteers. “We have laid the foundation for this but it has really been the community that has helped it take off.”

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.