The Evanston Art Center, located on Central Street, is holding a sale for second hand art supplies April 13-17th. This is the third year of the Eco Art Sale, an opportunity for students to buy gently used art supplies at a discounted price, with all proceeds going towards the Evanston Art Center’s mission as a nonprofit. Specifically, proceeds from the sale go to outreach and other programs at the EAC.
There is a wide range of items sold at the sale, some big sellers are canvases and paper, there are also paints,mosaic tile and glass, ceramic tools, colored pencils, etc. They cannot accept glitter, yarn, fabric or any other textiles. This is because anything not sold goes to the youth programs, anything that can’t be used for the youth programs is not accepted. The full list of items accepted/not accepted is available on their website. If you have an item to donate that is not on the list, you can reach out to the EAC and just ask.
If you are interested in helping with the sale in any way, the best way to go about that is to donate. This sale is impossible without the community coming together and donating what they have. If you have old art supplies lying around, paper, markers, pencils, paints or watercolors that haven’t seen the light of day in years, this is a way to clear your space while also giving back to the community. You can also, of course, shop the sale. If you or someone you know is interested in art, this is a great and affordable option. It is also a great place to go if you’re looking to start a new hobby without spending too much money.
The Eco Art Sale is pretty unique for the EAC, but it’s not rare for them to sell art. In the Central Street sidewalk sale, they have fifteen to twenty artists come in to sell their work, and in November and December there is the winter expo, where 160 artists come in to have their work sold. There is also the gala, an art auction coming up in May.
Since the sale is wrapping soon, a similar option for affordable art supplies is the Waste Shed off of Dempster. This is a shop open year round where you can donate and purchase all kinds of art supplies, from fabrics and sewing patterns, to jewelry kits, to markers and paper. If you missed the donation window for the Eco Art Sale and have some things lying around, check out the Waste Shed.
