Everything Old is New Again

From old T-shirts to a work of art. This is what two professors are working on this fall semester. Elizabeth McCormack-Whittemore, lecturer in the School of Art and Design said that by taking old T-shirts and pairing them with Assistant Professor Paul Valadez’s paintings, they have made something old, new again.

Whittemore teaches many things but among them is a sustainable product design class. Thanks to the three-year VentureWell Course and Program grant of $30,000, students can learn how to recycle materials into plastic filament which can then be used in a 3D printer. Over the semester, they aim to learn how to utilize ordinary things such as bottle caps and water bottles and turn them into items that can help benefit the community. 

“As people, we need to be less wasteful. There’s not an endless supply [of resources] and we are affecting our environment in a very negative way on a lot of different levels,” Whittemore said.

Whittemores’ collaboration with Valadez is both inventive and fortuitous. With the working title, “Cries in Spanish/Laughs in American”, they took old t-shirts, stills from educational films, and paint, Valadez and Whittemore have created something from used materials that take on a life of their own. 

Valadez spoke on the duality of the subject matter, as well as the chosen materials.

“It’s about duality, it’s about this idea of Mexican and American, it is about this idea of being on the border, it is about the idea of being in two different worlds at once and kind of not feeling comfortable in either one of those worlds,” he said. “The material itself becomes part of the content.” 

“These are materials and images that had a life of their own earlier and now being given another life a different life, you don’t always have to make something brand new that’s never existed you can have something that existed and change it and make it something different, something new and keep things out of landfills.”

Another way to reduce waste and reuse materials is to shop secondhand. Ana Velazquez, MBA student of UTRGV, stated, “The main reason why I choose to shop sustainably is because it reduces waste.” She said, “The fast fashion industry is one of the largest polluters, and making just a small adjustment in my daily life can be helpful in our environment.”

“You can go to the mall, you can go to Amazon and there’s going to be 50 of those shirts floating around in one city but thrifting is very distinct, unique,” Jason Munoz, the founder of Remenace Vintage and expert thrifter, said.

Munoz started Remenace Vintage in McAllen eight years ago. He travels cross-country to hunt for vintage clothes to bring back to his store. 

“I was just finding and collecting random cool stuff and from there it was like learning more niches that people like and it was just endless, endless,” Munoz said.

He spoke on the blooming thrifting and vintage retail market in The Valley and how more communities are becoming more eco-conscious when it comes to shopping. 

“[Vintage shopping] is great but also it is going to last longer and you’re giving it a second home. You’re preserving it and there’s been times when I’ve had old tees … and it starts conversation and it’s preserving the history of it.”

Graduate student, Velazquez, mentioned that the importance of sustainable shopping in her life came about because of a documentary that she watched during her undergrad years. After that, she started doing her own research on social media and online. 

“During that time is when I saw an increase in people thrifting, so it was easier to access that information and understand exactly how these companies are working and how they’re making a negative impact in so many ways.”

Eco-consciousness comes in many different forms.

Velazquez said, “Start with basic household items and then once that becomes a habit, make more adjustments to your lifestyle. Also do more research on how harmful [waste and fast fashion] is.”

The “Cries in Spanish, Laughs in American” exhibit from Valadez and Whittemore will debut at the Charles and Dorothy Clark Gallery in ELABS early this January. Remenace Vintage is open from Wednesday to Sunday with varying hours at 301 North Main Street, Suite 6 in McAllen.