Materials for Arts Is Recycling Program That Has Direct Benefits : Philanthropy: Through this New York City program, individuals and businesses can donate items such as furniture, appliances and props for arts groups.

Theaters, music schools and dance companies in New York City have found a new and unusual booster of the arts--the Department of Sanitation.

At a time when arts groups nationwide are suffering waning finances, organizations in New York are cheering new funding for an 11-year-old project that saves them hundreds of dollars.

Using the new money from the sanitation department, the program, called Materials for the Arts, has opened a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Manhattan for its donated stuff--metal shelving, furniture, bolts of fabric, props, paper supplies. The items are all from businesses and individuals.

“We’re the Santa Claus of the arts,” said Susan Glass, the energetic director of the project, speaking by phone on a day when 25 arts groups were scheduled to stop by.

“We just opened up this box of 30 plastic Snoopies and alligators that a shoe company had used for a shoe display. They were all gone two hours later!” she said. Some, for instance, went to a YMCA for its arts program.

The program was previously supported solely by the city Department of Cultural Affairs. Sanitation officials decided to become involved with the program last December.

“Teaming it with all our other recycling programs, it will be very significant,” says Scott Hanin, project manager for the recycling division of the sanitation department.

Glass says that the program, which was also able to add to its staff, now brings in an average of $80,000 worth of donated materials each month.

Glass said that staff members of the Metropolitan Museum of Art paid a visit to the warehouse recently. When they saw a used side-by-side refrigerator there for the taking, she said, “they nearly kissed the ground.” “It costs businesses money to throw this stuff away!” she exclaims. For companies wishing to donate, “all they do is call us, and we send our trucker out.” Donations are accepted from anyone as long as the items are in good condition.

The office furniture is a big hit with arts groups.

Norman MacArthur, building manager for Brooklyn Academy of Music, says Material for the Arts has furnished nearly every office. MacArthur estimates that his organization, which presents theater and music and has an annual budget of about $11 million, saves $7,000 to $10,000 a year through the program.

“It’s the most wonderful program any city agency runs,” MacArthur says.

“If we get a new staff member, we don’t always have petty cash to get that person a desk,” says Brendan Upson, activities coordinator for El Puente, a Brooklyn community center that offers arts programs for Latino youths.

El Puente has picked up sofas, a photo enlarger, fabric for costumes and leather gym mats, Upson said. “We also got a huge roll of paper--three people had to pick it up,” he said. “The art teacher uses it in art class. That saved us a lot of money.”

NBC recently donated police helmets, plastic trophies and walkie-talkies from the set of a discontinued police show. Dazian Inc., a theatrical fabric supplier, regularly sends seconds directly to the warehouse from the mill.

Most items, no matter how weird, go fast, Glass said. “A theater group was begging us for mannequins today,” she said. “They just needed the arms and legs though.”

The warehouse is not open to the general public. Before it can use it, an arts group must sign a contract, submit proof of its nonprofit status and show documentation of its activities. The warehouse is open twice a week, and visitors must make appointments.

Program staff members occasionally visit an organization to see how an item has been used.

“They’re very conscientious,” says Upson at El Puente. “They are very careful about who gets what and what it’s going to be used for.”

Similar donation programs to benefit arts groups have begun or are being considered in cities such as Seattle, Buffalo, Detroit and Houston.

“I think it will start to catch on more and more--especially with all the new concerns about recycling,” says Jason Townley, co-founder of the 6-month-old Artists’ Warehouse in Seattle.

Townley, who modeled his project after New York’s, said he feels confident that arts groups and businesses in King County support it.

“Here in Seattle, people really support the arts, and if businesses see a program that’s good for them and for the arts, they’ll go for it,” he said.

The arts council in Buffalo is considering restarting “Art Parts,” a reuse program discontinued a few years ago because of a lack of funds.

“This is one of the most creative ways of making a link between the business community and the arts community,” says Donna Rae Sutherland, communications director at the Arts Council in Buffalo.

For many businesses, taking part in Materials for the Arts offers a convenient way to be philanthropic.

“Many companies are not fiscally able to turn around and write a check for $5,000” to support an arts project, says John Ottulich, vice-president of marketing for York Ladder and Scaffold Inc. His company donates scaffolding to Materials for the Arts for artists working on public murals or sculptures.

Donations are tax-deductible too, but for Ottulich, that’s not a central concern. “We’re helping in the creation or enhancement of beauty, so why not?”