Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernadette Noll
Hi Bernadette, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where I got my start in the world of Reduce Reuse Remake. Was it from my grandmother who traveled from Texas back home to Brooklyn once a year in the 30s and 40s, stopping at second hand shops or, what she called “goodie shops” along the way? Was it growing up in New Jersey when my dad would have us all pile into the station wagon and drive around town during bulky trash days picking up bike parts and building materials? Was it the bags of clothes I’d get from our neighbor, camp-stamped BETH ANN GREEN inside the collar? All of this contributed of course, but I believe the big catalysts to the work I do now, were two-fold: one was the American Girl catalog that came in the mail 20 years ago, sent to my then 7 year-old daughter, full of all kinds of things to buy and language indicating that if you bought these things you’d feel love and fun and friendship and inclusion, and the second thing was our own government’s TAX FREE shopping day, during which families were encouraged to go out and BUY BUY BUY in the name of back to school and to save a measley 8%. Both of these things led me to creating environments of both second hand and making because I realized, that for families, the messages to CONSUME were far greater than the messages to CREATE. This led to the creation of Future Craft Collective, sewing classes for kids in which we used reuse materials we had gathered from the community, with the goal being to teach them that create is better than consume. And the tax-free shopping day led me to start community clothing swaps along with screen printing and sewing stations and more than enough clothes for everyone AND the power to make it their own.
Initially my mission was to create a balance of create/consume, but over the years, with the growth of fast fashion and the internet, I began to understand, that as a species we were being buried in the things we consumed, while all around us already existed all the things we needed. And now here I am, creating environments where we can build community through reuse. We can not only share our things, and our surplus, but we can share our skills as well and when we do, we are all better off.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Because I was making it all up as I went along and joining up with like-minded people along the way, I would say my journey has actually been quite smooth. I joined up with libraries around Austin and Farmer’s markets and other makers and reusers who were very much into the ideas I presented. From the beginning, I have been very lucky to form amazing collaborations with many creative, industrious people who have become great friends and allies.
As for reception of my ideas by the public, I feel that I present ideas to people that just haven’t been presented to them before – the clothing swaps and sustainable crafting and skill shares and mending events. All of the things I have created offer ideas and great freedom to people who get to see it in action. They don’t want to stop me, instead they want to join in with me.
I think too that I’m lucky in that I view obstacles differently than many people. I don’t view them as road blocks rather I view them as a chance to rethink my strategy. I view obstacles as an opportunity to try things differently than the way I may have done them in the past. It sounds so pollyanna-ish of me I’m sure, but the work I’ve done to get here has made it so that I don’t see obstacles, I see opportunities.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Over the past 20 years I have written 3 books, held countless clothing swaps, created hundreds of sustainable creative events and curated dozens of spaces to offer skill shares, collaborative making, creative reuse and other community endeavors. My first book, Make Stuff Together, was co-written with Kathie Sever, who now owns and operates the high-end chain stitch company, Fort Lonesome. That book was about connecting and creating at home and building community through sustainable making and when I read it now, it makes me happy that my message has been so consistent all these years.
I was lucky to live in Austin at a really affordable time which allowed for many creative people to live easily and pursue their dreams. There is no doubt in my mind that that affordability allowed me to be a writer, a maker and a mom to my four children. At the same time I was able to co-create, co-parent and collaborate with so many creative thinkers because we were able to live easily and dedicate time to our crafts. I recently revisited all of my books and was happy to read them and feel strongly that YES! These are the messages I continue to promote around the subject of connection, creativity, collaboration, slowing down, being mindful about choices and knowing what we want. I was able to wear many hats and in fact, I still do! And all of my hats have a common thread towards these things.
My work has definitely been impacted by the countless creative people I have met along the way. Whether it was co-writing and co-teaching with Kathie, or learning to sew with Leslie at Stitch Lab, or co-creating the Maker Faire with Kami Wilt of the Austin Tinkering school and that merry band of makers, or simply being offered the spaces necessary by the Austin Public Library and the Texas Farmers’ Markets and PTA groups and so many more, I have been lucky to find the most amazing people to create with.
Now I run a creative reuse center and maker space in Smithville, TX, under the umbrella of the Smithville Public Library and there too it is a dream to get to co-create with so many thoughtful, creative people. Who knows what will be next but one thing I know for sure, is that when we create in community, ideas spin to their highest form BECAUSE of the community that forms.
This year I am returning to more writing and also to public speaking. I want to share what I know and what I have learned and I want to continue to offer these creative, sustainable practices to people everywhere. I want to spread the message that everything we need already exists, and when we build community we can have access to everything we need.
Something somewhat unrelated to my other work is a poem I wrote called “I Want To Age Like Seaglass” which has gone globally viral and has been shared around the globe at weddings, funerals, church services, birthdays, and more. Search the title and you’ll see just how many people have adapted this poem to their work!
How do you think about happiness?
Oh my, this list is never ending! But I’ll start with my family, because being a mom to my four amazing humans, the youngest of whom is graduating high school this year has been my greatest joy. When I get to work with these humans – whether at events or at home on creative projects – that happiness spins even higher! They really are four of the kindest and creative humans I’ve ever met.
Creativity makes me happy. I love making and I especially love making, using what we have on hand. Creating in community is next level happiness! And creating spaces for community creativity is just about heaven on earth. I am a good place maker and especially good at creating space for community making and it is truly my happy place. So much so that when I observe a space I’ve created full of people making, it often brings me to tears.
I often joke that I love a mic, but it’s true! I love being on stage, sharing a stage with others and curating a show of music and spoken word and ideas. I always say it’s because I grew up number 8 of 9 kids that I love a mic so much. Either that or it’s my extreme extrovert tendencies.
Other things that make me happy in no particular order: sharing ideas, swimming in natural water, sewing, making, drawing, hanging with friends and family, sharing ideas, thrift shopping and estate sales, secondhand cashmere, connecting people with people, connecting people with things they need, someone handing me a cup of hot tea on a chilly day, crisp tart apples, good discourse, and so much more.
I’ve lived a lucky life and I’m generally a happy person so I really could make this list all day long.
Pricing:
- Speaking fees: $400 and up
- Workshop fees: $400 and up
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reducereuseremake/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reducereuseremake
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadette-noll-94a59711/
- Other: https://substack.com/@bernadettenoll
