Don’t Throw That Away – Lisa Fredenthal-Lee

At the tender age of 4, I began on a journey that has been the root of my creativity to this day. The Detroit News Sunday paper arrived at our doorstep. No one in the house was awake to retrieve it. I did. I marveled at how much paper was there. I got out my scissors and tape. Fifteen, full figures, were conceived. I hung each one to line the contour of our living room walls. I would use anything to keep my creative brain cooking. Newspaper, plastic bags, even laundry lint, whatever the refuse, it was soon recycled into a work of art. Making something into something. A life-long vision.

Art programs for schools have been hard hit and suffer greatly from budget cuts leaving behind limited art experiences for youth. ‘Don’t Throw THAT Away!’ began in 2003 as a result of these budget cuts.

As a visual artist sharing art in our schools, I now found myself unemployed. If I could not teach in the classroom I wanted to continue to promote the use of alternative materials. There had to be another way! TELEVISION!

With the assistance of grants and true believers, 9 three-minute episodes and 1 half hour special were created dedicated to the environmentally friendly art of Reuse. The series aired on an impressive 137 PBS stations across the nation , in the processes, providing a much needed educational tool for public school classrooms as well as a muse to countless young adults.