Tucked away on St. Clair Ave. in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul is the ArtScraps Creative Reuse Materials and Idea Center, a small, colorful storefront housing endless creative possibilities in the form of donated craft supplies and other materials for reuse.

Opened in 1993, the ArtScraps store is an arm of the arts nonprofit ArtStart, which was established in 1987.

“The mission of ArtStart is to inspire artistic creativity and illuminate the connections among people, ideas and the environment through engaging artists, children, families, and communities in quality arts education experiences,” said the organization in its mission statement.

ArtStart aims to cater to all artistic pursuits regardless of age, identity or creative background. This is apparent in ArtScraps’ interior, which looks like an “I Spy” book come to life.

ArtScraps houses everything from traditional craft supplies like markers, pens and yarn to barrels full of paper towel tubes, CDs and orange prescription bottles, ready to be used in someone’s next creative experiment.

“You notice different things every time you come in,” said Cindy Lukas, a volunteer worker who has been involved with ArtScraps for nearly eight years.

Lukas started as a customer looking for materials to use in creative projects for people with dementia at the nursing home where she assisted. ArtScraps also proved useful for her own mixed media art practice.

“It just fit with the other things I was doing,” Lukas said, which is what led her to start volunteering.

Examples of art made with ArtScraps materials can be found all over the store, adding even more color to the whimsically kitschy space.

Hanging in the far-left corner inside the front window are fabric tubes tangled together and hung from the ceiling, appearing like tentacles. Buttons adorn them, as well as large glass and metal circles resembling giant eyes.

On a shelf in the middle of the store is a green paper-mâché fish and various dioramas, including one of the human brain made for a school project with its different sections made of different colored plastic leis.

“Who knows what it was to begin with, but we had it,” said Store Manager Becky Olson when she pulled the diorama off the shelf, referring to the yellow hard plastic rim containing the brain.

Olson started at ArtScraps as a volunteer, then became a teaching artist who led different store activities until becoming the manager in 2012.

An artist with a background in set production for theater, Olson said she loves ArtScraps’ mission of “being a part of the circle of materials and making them readily available.”

“People love to give their materials to a place that’s dedicated to reuse,” Olson said. “It takes a load off their minds.”

Lukas said she donates a lot of stuff because it gets it out of her house and makes her husband happy.

The value of ArtScraps goes far beyond being a drop-off site for objects without purpose. It is the community that is fostered around the exchange and discovery of objects and their creative potential that counts.

“It makes people feel good,” Olson said.

What is more, a lot of those objects are priced under a dollar, excluding items with special value.

“A lot of things are at least 50 percent off craft store price,” said Franny Haight, ArtScraps employee and fifth-year University of Minnesota fine arts student. “I once found $2 mohair yarn.”

Haight said the low prices create access to the arts and the environment of ArtScraps, which also sets it apart from craft store chains like Michaels, which she called “sterile.”

Haight said coming to ArtScraps means shopping without the ethical concerns involving corporations, such as where their wares are sourced and how they treat their workers.

“You’re supporting a small nonprofit and saving items from a landfill,” Haight said.

As a worker, Haight has helped working artists find materials for their projects but also sees a lot of children come to ArtScraps.

“Kids have less judgment about what materials they’re working with or where they come from,” Haight said.

The infinite avenues of inspiration maintained by ArtScraps create childlike wonder in everyone who visits, which ultimately spurs creativity, both individually and collectively.

Haight said young girls come in semi-regularly and the last time they came in, they challenged each other to buy only items in their favorite colors.

In another instance, Haight said a parent showed their child around the store. As they were leaving, she heard the child say, “Thanks for bringing me here.”

To find out more about how and what to donate to ArtScraps, visit their donation page on their website. Their next open donation day is Tuesday, Aug. 20.

ArtScraps is open Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.