The Glass Case Mini Art Gallery is a new project of The WasteShed, Chicago's only creative reuse center. The WasteShed is a nonprofit thrift store that keeps reusable art and educational materials out of the landfill, and turns them into an accessible, affordable resource for artists, teachers, and anyone who needs them.

The Glass Case in question is a handsome midcentury jewelry case salvaged from the Marshall Fields in Evanston. Anything that goes in it must fit through a 15" square door in the back. Every month, we are showcasing a different local artist who works with 60% or more repurposed materials, with a particular focus on emerging artists, people of color, and makers who have never or rarely shown their work before. All our featured artists will have the opportunity to hold an art opening or workshop in the store.

The goals of the Glass Case Mini Art Gallery are:

• To provide a platform for the many amazing, diverse artists and craftspeople who come through our store, and to encourage them to apply their ingenuity to transforming discarded materials into small art, and to earn some money from so doing (artists get 75% of sales of their work),
• To inspire our customers and demonstrate the awesome power and potential of so-called trash,
• To create conversation, collaboration, and connection among the folks who we currently mostly know as customers and neighbors, but who will form the basis of a new kind of creative community.