SCRAP, beloved arts-crafts-and-everything store, secures new home

SCRAP, the 50 year-old nonprofit that collects and sells donated art supplies, has secured a new home just blocks from its current location at 801 Toland St., according to an announcement released by the nonprofit this morning.

For the past 25 years SCRAP, which donates supplies to local teachers and runs its own student art programs, leased the Toland Street location from the San Francisco Unified School District. 

When SFUSD announced last year that it would be reclaiming the space to use as a central kitchen for the district, the district’s plans sent the nonprofit scrambling to purchase a new location — one that, organizers hoped, would allow them to stay in the Bayview, a neighborhood that has long been a haven for local artists. 

Luckily, the nonprofit got its wish. This August, SCRAP will relocate to 141 Industrial St., formerly owned by Calvary Hill Community Church, which went into foreclosure. The Baptist church will continue to operate on the second floor of the building. 

The new location will double the size of SCRAP’s warehouse, says Terry Kochanski, SCRAP’s Executive Director, and create more room for the nonprofit’s classes and workshops.

This will allow SCRAP to expand its programming for school-aged children, which includes sustainable fashion design and a variety of art classes. 

SCRAP was founded in 1976 by local, renowned artist Ruth Asawa and organizer Anne Marie Theilen, and has long been a haven for arts lovers, as well as a one-stop shop for discount mannequins, vintage magazines, and just about anything a person could possibly need for a creative project.

“Now, we have a place to call our own,” Kochanski wrote in the announcement. “It gives us room to grow, collaborate, and help San Francisco thrive as a city where art, arts education, and environmental sustainability are an important part of our cultural fabric.”