History

How we got here

In 1978, Angela Fremont, a young artist working out of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation in Central Park heard that the staff of the Central Park Zoo was looking for a refrigerator to house medicines for the animals.  She put on her thinking cap and called a local radio show to make on-air appeal for a working refrigerator.  Within minutes, the zoo’s office was inundated with phone calls and the idea for Materials for the Arts was born.

Starting as a one person operation with a desk and a phone, MFTA has grown into a program with thirteen staff members, two trucks, and a 35,000 square foot facility in Long Island City.  Materials for the Arts has formed a unique partnership among New York City’s Departments of Cultural Affairs, Education and Sanitation.    Since 1978 MFTA has been a program of the Department of Cultural Affairs, supporting hundreds of arts and cultural groups in the city.  In the late 1980’s leaders at the Department of Sanitation recognized the important work MFTA was doing in the area of reuse and waste reduction.  As a result, MFTA began to receive funding from the Department of Sanitation through their Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling program.   In 1997 the Department of Education added support, allowing MFTA to give teachers access to free materials, helping in the restoration of arts education and leveling the playing field for all New York City public schools.  

MFTA meets the needs and missions of each of our City partners: promoting reuse and recycling, educating thousands of New Yorkers in the arts and reuse and sustaining non-profit arts organizations throughout the City. New York City residents and the local environment are ultimately the beneficiaries of MFTA’s efforts.  

From a used refrigerator to 713 tons of materials valued at over $7, 052,958 in 2007, Materials for the Arts continues to grow and provide essential materials to those in need.