What is Clever Octopus & why we love them
Clever Octopus Inc. pivots on the premise that art is for anyone, and should have affordable access to materials to feed one’s creativity. By tapping into our waste stream for clean reusable art supplies that are donated to them by businesses and the public, they leverage the value of resources originally fated for the landfill and donate or resell these materials at affordable prices back to the community.
We love Clever Octopus and their passion for reusing materials to foster creativity within the community.
The founders
Sheri Gibb - “By helping change people’s relationship to materials and with art, we’re providing an amazing, unprecedented and unique service that no other organization offers in Utah.”
Jen Lopez - “Seeing the delight folks face after their first visit, or even their tenth, when they see walls of oddities that seem handpicked just for them, confirms we’re doing something right."
Where they’re at
Clever Octopus was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The pandemic-induced closure of the State presented the daunting risk of limited access to educational supplies and life-enriching resources for some of their community members. Although Clever Octopus Inc., like many businesses, has taken a hit financially due to COVID-19, COI sought to solve this by partnering with several local organizations that allowed them to direct materials to Title 1 Schools, libraries and communities in need, including youth and families living in the Navajo Nation.
Where they’re going
It is important to them to craft ways to fill gaps in resources by weaving a diverse network of non-traditional partnerships through creative problem-solving. More funding allows them to expand on their partnerships and more passionately celebrate the experience of reuse as they adapt through this pandemic and respond to the important social justice movements of the times. They hope to further establish ourselves as a hub that facilitates a strong reuse culture and further develop their programming in schools and community workshops.
Create the Future.