ABOUT

SUPPLY Victoria is a an art-meets-environmental nonprofit. Our Creative Reuse Centre, located at 707 Douglas St, welcomes visitors Thursday-Saturday 12pm-6pm (donations from 11am-12pm). Here, you can explore a treasure trove of affordable and sustainable materials — like a thrift store specializing in art, office, and school supplies!

WHAT WE DO

SUPPLY Victoria Creative Reuse Centre, a registered Society, has redistributed thousands of pounds of previously used art, office, and school supplies through a variety of programs and services, including:

• Creative Reuse Centre: a low-cost second-hand supply store open to the public three days a week.
• Creative Reuse Education: providing hands-on, arts-based environmental education programs.
• Material Grants: extending free material support to community-building art projects.
• This program is PAUSED until further notice to help us recuperate from our move.
  
• Material Donations: welcoming donations of used supplies and surplus items from local businesses, in accordance with our Material Acceptance Guidelines, available Thursday through Saturday from 11am to 12pm.
• Donations are PAUSED till February 29th, 2024.
  
• Volunteer Program: offering skill-building opportunities within a community who care about art & the environment.
• Enhancing accessibility to affordable creative materials by offering a 20% discount to teachers and sliding scale pricing options.

OUR MISSION

To divert materials from the landfill and put them into the hands of artists, students, and teachers in order to craft a more sustainable, creative, and inclusive Victoria.

OUR VISION

To accelerate the adoption of sustainability in Victoria by supplying the materials and knowledge to integrate sustainable thinking into the creative process.

TAGLINE

Crafting a sustainable future.

PHILOSOPHY

Everything we need to create a more sustainable future already exists here on this island. SUPPLY speeds the adoption of sustainability by making it fun, accessible and affordable to create using sustainable materials and principles.

PRESS + SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

SUPPLY'S Executive Director, Ashley Howe, has been asked to speak about her reuse work at the Community Social Planning Council’s Financial Inclusion in the Green Economy conference, Vancouver’s Economic Commission’s Success and Opportunity in Vancouver’s Circular Economy Webinar, Brand Battle for Good, Synergy Foundation’s EcoStar Awards, PechaKucha Night Victoria, has appeared on CHEK News, CBC radio, Victoria News, Times Colonist, and featured in Victoria Foundation’s Vital Signs magazine. Watch her Creative Mornings talk on the topic, Pride, here.

Awards:

• Saanich Arts, Culture, and Heritage: Unsung Hero Award 2022
• EcoStar Awards Winner: Greenest Retailer 2022
• EcoStar Wards Winner: Waste to Resource 2023
• EcoStar Awards Finalist: EcoPreneur of the Year 2023

Press Highlights:

• Victoria Buzz: Victoria non-profit who divert art supplies from the landfill opening new storefront next week (February 22, 2024)
• Victoria News: Victoria’s reuse-inspired art supply thrift store finds new downtown home (January 19, 2024)
• Martlet: SUPPLY Creative Reuse Centre is about to open its doors at a new location (January 25, 2024)
• Capital Daily: From scraps to art: SUPPLY Victoria boosts affordable creativity by tapping into the landfill’s artistic potential (January 16, 2024)
• Chek, Vital People: Victoria arts non-profit looking for fundraising help (January 8, 2024)
• CBC Radio: Économie circulaire à Victoria : la boutique de matériel d’art d’occasion SUPPLY déménage (December 21, 2023)
• Victoria News: Victoria’s reuse-inspired ‘community craft closet’ makes art more accessible (December 6, 2023)
• CBC Radio, All Points West: Victoria non-profit provides affordable art supplies by diverting waste from landfill (November 24, 2023)
  
• Times Colonist: Scrappy Last Saturdays (November 23, 2023)
• Times Colonist: Upcycled crafting, lantern making, mountain biking (September 28, 2023)
  
• Times Colonist: Turn cast-offs into art at Scrappy Last Saturdays (March 19, 2023)
• Yam Magazine: SUPPLY & Demand — page 15 (January/February issue)
• CBC Radio, BC Today: DIY Projects — starts at minute 24 (February 2, 2023)
• Times Colonist: Incubator nurtures companies that keep materials out of the landfill (January 15, 2023)
• Martlet: New show at SUPPLY invites the community to reimagine waste materials as tiny art works (November 24, 2022)
• Douglas Magazine: 2022 Ecostar Award winners announced (November 12, 2022)
• Times Colonist: Organizations honoured for environmental commitment (November 12, 2022)
• Victoria Free Island: Daily Victoria arts hub open house to showcase variety of styles (April 16, 2022)
• CTV: B.C.'s first non-profit store selling used art supplies opens in Victoria (July 5, 2022)
• Victoria Now: Victoria’s first Creative Reuse Centre opens to make art affordable (July 1, 2022)
• Capital Daily: ‘Think a little bit differently’: first non-profit Creative Reuse Centre opens in Victoria (July 1, 2022)
• CBC All Points West with Robyn Burns: SUPPLY Victoria opens storefront (June 27, 2022)
  
• CHEK Upside: Upcycling art centre preparing for grand opening (June 24, 2022)
• CBC Arts: Thrift like an artist! How to get your hands on the best upcycled art supplies (March 4, 2022)
• Times Colonist: Pop-up store diverts art supplies from landfill (February 6, 2022)
• Victoria News: Free art supplies offered weekly at North Park pop-up in Victoria (February 4, 2022)
• CBC Radio’s All Points West with Robyn Burns: Holiday Reuse Ideas (November 29, 2021)
• CHEK Upside: Victoria non-profit breathes new life into old materials (August 8, 2020)

ANNUAL REPORTS

2023 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

2020/2021 Annual Report

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I’m Ashley Howe, the founder and lead instructor of SUPPLY Victoria — a nonprofit that redistributes used art, office, and school supplies (as well as cast-off materials from businesses) and offers creative reuse education to youth and adults founded in 2018.

As an art student struggling to afford to make work, I always wished I had access to more affordable and sustainable materials. SUPPLY was born out of a desire to create a vibrant and inclusive cultural hub that offers more accessible, affordable, and inspiring alternatives to traditional art supplies and creative reuse education to youth and adults.

As a kid growing up in Portland, Oregon, I was into repurposing, thrifting, making movies, drawing, knitting, and making mix CDs for my friends. I’ve lived in Vancouver (where I attended Emily Carr University of Art and Design), Montreal, and eventually moved back to Portland where I worked and volunteered for several of my favourite nonprofits including: The ReBuilding Centre, SCRAP PDX, and ReClaim It. While working with these reuse-meets-social-justice organizations, I developed a clear vision of what a creative reuse centre could look like in Canada. Victoria seemed like the perfect place with the second largest concentration of artists in the country and its strong commitment to sustainability and support of a circular economy.

I’m excited to bring my passion for humans, the planet, creative reuse, education, and equity/inclusion to build community and provide members of that community with the resources and knowledge to become more self-sufficient.

Ashley Howe
Executive Director