Our organization is dedicated to diverting historic used building materials away from landfills and back into our local communities; to the preservation of the architectural and lived histories of the region; and to the revival of local craft industries dedicated to the well-being of People, Place & Planet.
Solely through the work of volunteers and community members, we have kept over 200 tons of historic building materials out of our landfills, putting materials back into our communities instead. This is highlighted with the recent collaboration between our organization and renowned installation artist and College of Charleston professor Jarod Charzewski. We worked with Charzewski and Coastal Carolina University faculty and students to reuse tons of wood salvaged from a Conway home in Charzewski’s work Splinters, a major installation in the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery designed to draw attention to the problem of waste.
Our vision and approach centralizes the power of art to impact social change. The key element of our plan is to revive the historic McIver-Shaw Lumberyard to serve as the base of deconstruction operations in conjunction with the associated Ice House property serving as a creative space for students, performances and events, artists in residence, and permaculture community gardening. By supporting local artists, providing reclaimed materials, and organizing artist market events, we can establish a creative communal center that will be transformative for Conway and serve as a model throughout South Carolina.
In combination with our current stock of building materials, the solid state of the historic structures, expert volunteer assistance, and support of local planning officials, your contribution will help us revive this historic corner of Conway into a vibrant creative force for our local communities.
