Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Dake.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Indigo Hippo got started back in 2016 with a vision for creating a connecting point for creative materials that still have life left in them and the people who can use them. Our mission has always centered around care of the earth and care for people, and we became pay-what-you-can in 2017, aiming to lower barriers to financial access to creative materials because being able to create is essential to our individual and collective well-being. Now, we are 8 years old, and our shop is still on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati. To date, we have diverted 202,361 pounds of materials from the waste stream. Our shop is also a gallery space where we feature the work of local artists, and we regularly offer materials to other organizations and program partners.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been many challenges along the way! When we got started, we were one of the only pay-what-you-can creative reuse centers in the nation, so we developed our own system, and that, of course, came with some trial and error as we engaged with our community and made tweaks along the way. 2020 brought the Covid-19 pandemic, and navigating a shutdown and public health crisis as a small non-profit was extremely challenging. But it pushed us to be innovative and to figure out how we could still be a resource for our community during such a difficult time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Indigo Hippo is a “Creative Reuse Center.” There are many creative reuse centers across the nation, and they typically receive donations of materials with the purpose of giving them a second life in a creative way or for a creative purpose. One amazing aspect of being a CR center is that you can truly get just what you need, and we get to encourage people to think about how they are interacting with materials. Perhaps you only need 1/2 a tube of paint or a couple sheets of paper. You don’t need to purchase an entire pack and possibly pitch or hang on to the excess if you don’t need it. Another wonderful feature of being a creative reuse center is introducing folks to materials they might not have access to or may not have considered for their project.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Cincinnati is special in that it is both extremely creative and very collaborative. This city is full of people who want to make a difference at the ground level, who are generous with their time and resources so that incredible ideas come to life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.indigohippo.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigohippo
Image Credits
Indigo Hippo
