Mission & History

In the 1970s, the Neighborhood Arts Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission received a grant to place professional artists in public schools. Anne Marie Theilen, who directed the program oversaw a network of more than 140 teaching artists. Despite the promise of this initiative, there was no funding for classroom materials—forcing artists to get creative about how they sourced supplies. At the same time, local businesses were discarding usable items: paper printed with outdated logos, fabric samples from interior designers, industrial offcuts, product overruns.

Theilen saw an opportunity to meet the needs of teaching artists while diverting waste- she partnered with renowned artist and arts education champion Ruth Asawa, and together they founded SCRAP - Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts–  a place where surplus materials could be repurposed for creative use.

Ruth Asawa served as SCRAP’s founding Board President for nearly two decades. Ruth Asawa’s belief in accessible, hands-on art education and community engagement continues to shape SCRAP’s mission to this day. Her ethos—centered on equity, creativity, and the power of reuse—lives on in everything we do.