One summer, she found herself unemployed and homeless, keeping all of her possessions in a storage locker. The 4x4 cube of space was filled top-to-bottom with inaccessible clutter. If she was going to be functional, she was going to need to organize that very limited space.
With no money and no workshop, she acquired scrap lumber from a superintendent friend. She was then able to use an East Village theater space to assemble a shelving unit designed for the exact dimensions of her storage locker. She carted the shelving unit down Allen St. and began to organize her life. It was very empowering and revolutionary for her to create something from nothing. A friend who was concerned about her situation asked to see pictures of what she had built. From what she saw, she asked Sara if she had ever considered contract work. Before long, several of Sara's friends were asking her to build them loft beds, shelves, tables and all sorts of custom carpentry projects. It was clear that she was onto something.
In 2010, having found an apartment and on her way to putting her life back together, Sara attended the blue collar prep program at NEW (Non-traditional Employment for Women). There, she refined her craft and gained the confidence to venture into professional carpentry. She knew that her attraction to salvaged lumber was crucial to her enjoyment of the work. She had always been attracted to found art sculptures and saw her woodwork as a kind of eccentric functional sculpture venture.
Now with a workshop she has dedicated for her projects in the East Village, Sara routinely scours the sidewalks for freshly discarded furniture and wood scraps. She is very proud of her thoroughly stocked inventory of lumber pieces of all shapes and sizes, and is in wonder that so much quality material with so much potential would have been lost otherwise. She is thrilled that her art feeds her and can directly improve the lives of people in her community.
