As anyone who makes art knows, “art supplies are expensive,” said Lexi Cuddeback, store manager at MECCA — Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts — a nonprofit second-hand art supplies store in downtown Eugene.
MECCA’s mission is to decrease materials entering the waste stream while delivering them to people at affordable prices. Its 7,000-square-foot building is large enough to house a community area, a private studio, a volunteer space, and an art gallery, not to mention the warehouse room where donations are delivered.
“We have almost more than we can handle,” Executive Director Heather Campbell said about donations. MECCA is a grassroots operation, she said, with a small crew of three full-time employees and four part-time staff for processing materials…