By NATE KING
Salina Post
Salina residents will have the opportunity to breathe new life into their broken belongings at the Repair Café set to take place on Saturday, September 7. The event will run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Salina Art Center Warehouse, located at 149 South Fourth Street.
The Repair Café is a community-focused initiative where skilled volunteers offer their expertise to fix a variety of items. Whether it's electrical repairs, flat tires on bikes, jewelry mending, sewing projects, book binding, or small woodworking tasks, volunteers are ready to assist with quick fixes.
The Art Center Wearhouse held its first Repair Cafe event in April. Salina Art Center Education Director, Darren Morawitz, who will repair wooden items at the Repair Cafe said his joy of fixing things began back when he was a kid on the farm.
" I grew up on a farm in Hutchison. It was a small farm, but definitely my dad and both my grandfathers never wanted to call a repairman if they could help it," Morawitz said. "I was the only one who could crawl in the crawl spaces. So I grew up at a young age doing all the plumbing."
Morawitz said he feels uniquely cathartic after he helps someone by repairing an item. He talked about fixing a woman's suitcase back in April.
"We repaired a suitcase that had a wheel broken on it and she admitted to that if we couldn't fix it, it was like a $20 suitcase, like she got from Goodwill or something. But we did fix it," Morawitz said. "Art is just problem-solving. That is all it is creative problem solving. So this is just a different form of art — the art of repair."
In addition to repairing household items, the event offers a special activity for children. Kids are encouraged to bring their broken crayons, which will be melted down and transformed into new ones that they can use again.
The event is made possible through the generous support of dedicated volunteers and partnerships with The Salina Public Library, the Art Center Warehouse, The Kansas Wesleyan University Community Resiliency Hub, and North Salina Community Development.
Morawitz explained that only small and medium-sized items can be brought to the Repair Cafe, so please make sure items can be held in your hands.
If you would like to volunteer to repair items for the Repair Cafe, contact Darren Morawitz here.
For more information about the Salina Art Center, visit the Salina Art Center's Facebook page here.