Urban Agriculture Unit The Urban Agriculture Unit is a collaborative project with local Providence artists to develop an educational, functional mobile greenhouse unit using a discarded shipping trailer. Through the sculptural reuse and redesign of the existing structure, the shipping container becomes both a living sculpture and a living machine, outfitted with a hydroponic system that will support plant production and the study of different growing methods. The Urban Agricultural Unit will be used to teach local students and community members about greenhouse growing systems and opportunities for ecologically conscious living in urban areas. The Urban Agriculture Unit will accommodate classes for grade school students and high school students as well as independent study and research projects.

http://www.pipsworks.com/uau.html

Industrial Evolution- produces a series of Bus Brake Planters. City bus brake drums are routinely replaced and discarded, Industrial Evolution repurposes the cast-steel drums, creating, these heavy-duty indoor/outdoor planters.

This group views creative reuse not only as an environmental good, but also to exercise the ability to re-imagine the materials that make up the world around us.

http://www.industrialevolution.org/

PUENTE - PUENTE's current projects include the redevelopment of 60 Valley Street, the historic Providence Bleaching Dyeing and Calendering Co. Stop by the office at 104 Valley Street or call 454-3570 for more information about our projects and programs. PUENTE's mission is to catalyze economic self-sufficiency and provide opportunities to neighborhoods that are facing gentrification and displacement. Our model is to gain control of distressed commercial and industrial sites and redevelop them into environmentally, economically and socially sustainable community assets.

http://www.puenteprovidence.org/

NOD - (New Object Design) Studio is a collaborative of artists whose work crosses multiple disciplines. NOD Studio artists reuse and repurpose materials, giving old textile factory carts new life as settees, for example. The Steel Yard has helped NOD studios with workspace and materials as well as exposure. They are a great example of how craftspeople and artists can combine forces to help make and market innovative products.

email: nod@thesteelyard.org