Art Supplies for All: WasteShed's Beloved Nonprofit Resale Shop Is Leaving Evanston — and Edgewater Is Its New Home
By Socialhood News · Edgewater ·
Edgewater is about to get one of the North Side's most creative and community-spirited tenants. WasteShed, a nonprofit art supply resale shop that has spent years diverting thousands of pounds of donated materials from landfills in Evanston, is relocating to a vacant Broadway storefront in Edgewater — and it's aiming to open its doors this October.
The move, first reported by Block Club Chicago on September 28, follows WasteShed's search for a new home after the nonprofit couldn't find a suitable replacement space in Evanston. Rather than stay constrained to one suburb, the organization widened its search area and landed on the empty Broadway storefront, closing its Evanston location earlier this month. For Edgewater, a neighborhood that has watched Broadway's commercial corridors slowly fill back in over the past two years, the arrival of a mission-driven creative nonprofit represents exactly the kind of anchor tenant that attracts foot traffic and community identity in equal measure.
What does WasteShed actually sell? The inventory is as eclectic as it sounds: paint supplies, old canvases, fabric, needles, and a rotating assortment of donated art and craft materials. Each WasteShed location takes in between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds of donated materials per month that would otherwise potentially be thrown away, according to the organization. The model is simple — people donate usable art supplies they no longer need, and other artists, students, teachers, and crafters buy them at affordable resale prices. It's a circular economy built specifically for the creative community, and it makes art-making more accessible to people who can't afford retail prices at traditional supply stores.
The Edgewater location will also debut something new for WasteShed: a dedicated classroom area, which the organization didn't have at its Evanston shop. That addition signals that the Broadway location isn't just a store — it has the potential to become a programming hub for hands-on creative education in the neighborhood. Edgewater already has a dense ecosystem of arts organizations, theaters, and community spaces, and a classroom-equipped art supply resale nonprofit plugs directly into that fabric.
A firm grand opening date has not yet been announced, but WasteShed has said neighbors and customers can stay up to date through its website. With an October target on the calendar, residents won't have long to wait.
The WasteShed news lands during an already active stretch for Edgewater's arts and history community. The Edgewater Historical Society is in the middle of its Autumn Salon series — intimate Thursday evening gatherings from 6 to 8 p.m. at the EHS museum, tied to its ongoing "Celebrating Edgewater's Theatres" exhibit. The next salon, on October 22, features Dusty Brown, Artistic Director of Redtwist Theatre, as guest speaker. The series is presented in partnership with the Friends of Edgewater Library.
On Saturday, October 10, the Chicago History Book Group convenes at 10:00 a.m. in the Betty A. Barclay Community Room at the Edgewater Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 6000 N. Broadway — another low-barrier, free opportunity for residents to gather around shared neighborhood curiosity.
Taken together, WasteShed's imminent arrival and the season's packed cultural calendar reflect something consistent about Edgewater's character: this is a neighborhood that makes room for institutions that put creative access and community connection ahead of pure commercial calculation. A nonprofit art supply resale shop with a classroom, landing on a stretch of Broadway that has been steadily reclaiming its vitality, is the kind of news worth circling on the calendar.
To follow WasteShed's Edgewater opening and get notified of the grand opening date, visit the nonprofit's website directly. For the EHS Autumn Salons and the October 10 Chicago History Book Group, check edgewaterhistory.org for details. October in Edgewater is shaping up to be well worth showing up for.
Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/28/wasteshed-an-art-supply-resale-nonprofit-is-moving-from-evanston-to-edgewater/
2. https://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/
3. https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?q=edgewater