Second Life Exchange

The Second Life Exchange is RISD’s internal creative reuse center — a place for students to up-cycle, repurpose, or reuse materials that can inspire creativity and reduce financial burden. It is both a location for donating used art and design materials and for finding used items to help create your next project.

RISD Students can visit the Second Life Exchange for drawing implements, paints, sewing materials, small tools, paper, foam, fabric, yarn, wood, and more.

You can take up to five items per visit to the Second Life Exchange. We encourage you to only take what you need for projects you are currently working on, so we can ensure each student has access to a robust range of materials throughout the semester.

Once you’ve picked out your items, you will need to check out with the desk attendant so we can maintain our inventory.

We accept donations of usable art and design supplies and materials. You may drop off donations to the Second Life Exchange with the desk attendant, or in the donation bin outside the door. Materials must be donated ready-to-use, which means any donations from an old project must already be deconstructed.

For members of the public, donation drop offs are available on Tuesdays by appointment. Please fill out this form to arrange a donation time. 

We do not accept donations of clothes or furniture. For clothing or furniture donations, please email flips@risd.edu to learn more about donating those items to the annual RISD Flips clothing sale or the Furniture Surplus program. 

The Loop Lab is a sustainability project led by the Nature Lab, where raw materials and scraps get repurposed into new materials like paper or clay. Beginning Fall 2025, materials made in the Loop Lab will be available to students at the Second Life Exchange.

The reuse specialist at Second Life Exchange is Laney Knudson, an Anishinaabe/Cree artist from Montana. They graduated from the Brown|RISD Dual Degree program in 2023 with degrees in Painting and Ethnic Studies. As the reuse specialist, Laney is passionate about helping students incorporate sustainability into their artistic practices by using unconventional and recycled materials. Outside of RISD, Laney maintains their own studio painting practice. You can contact them by phone 401-454-6263 or email lknudson@risd.edu. 

The Second Life Exchange welcomes campus groups and class visits. If you are a faculty or staff member and are interested in bringing your students to the Second Life Exchange, please contact us to schedule a time with the reuse specialist so that we can ensure we have the proper supplies and staffing to accommodate a large group.