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<p><br><b>Adam Garza </b>[00:00:00] Hi, my name's Adam Garza, in the intro
to Music and Arts Nonprofits class at UTSA, and this is in fulfillment for an
assignment to record an artist involved with nonprofit work. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:00:20] And with me today is Chris Castillo. 
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<p><br><b>Chris Castillo </b>[00:00:27] And I am primarily a visual artist and
I have had experience working in the nonprofit sector for a decade and I
currently am a teen librarian for the San Antonio Public Library System. Happy
to be here. Thank you for having me, Adam. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:00:44] Thank you for joining me, Chris. Now, currently,
what nonprofits are you active in? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:00:51] So currently, I'm in I'm active in a
nonprofit organization called Spare Parts. The mission of spare parts is to
advance creative re-use through the arts. What that means is that we promote
sustainability, re-use, recycling, upcycling, being creative with the waste
that we produce as consumers and businesses. And we also work directly with
educators and artists who might not have access to all of the resources that
they need. And I've been involved with this nonprofit ever since it was
founded. So I started as a volunteer and worked my way through as a board
member where I currently am serving. So that's my role, I'm one of the board
members for Spre  and we'll get into what that means and how that looks.
That is the current nonprofit that I am working with. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:02:10] And can you tell you what drew you to them since you
started as a volunteer, how you found Spare Parts?
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:02:18] That is a great question. You know,
just within my own network of people in the San Antonio art community, there
are people that have passion projects and are really passionate and driven to
be the change that they want to see in the world, as cheesy as that sounds. And
my friend Mary Cantu, I met her while I was working, I met her when I was
interning at Art Pace, an artist residency. I became interested in working with Spare Parts when it was founded just through the network of community here in
San Antonio. I started interning at a nonprofit arts organization called Art
Pace and that's where I met Mary Cantu and Mary is the founder of Spare Parts.
It was just a genius idea where in Mary and volunteers and businesses would all
come together for a common goal of reducing trash. You know, one of the motto that the organization uses often is trash is failure of the imagination. And
what that means is an organization like Spare Parts connects businesses and
individuals that have extra things and connects that with people that need
those things, be them artists or educators, especially educators who might not
have the budget or the resources necessary to have art supplies for hundreds of
students in their district or what have you. So not nonprofit... [inaudible]
There are passion projects that people will create. They don't always end up
being a nonprofit and honestly, spare parts did not start as a nonprofit. It
started as an idea. And that idea grew; that idea grew and became a nonprofit.
We have a board and an executive director. We have different titles and
responsibilities. We have bylaws. We we did all of the paperwork that was
necessary to become a registered nonprofit with the Internal Revenue Service.
Many hours, lots of dedicated people and 
I guess I- I want to say: for anybody that might be interested in
starting a nonprofit, just start. You might not have everything you need at the
start, but just start. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:05:52] You mentioned that you have, everybody has, their
roles in the positions and whatnot. What is yours and what do you do? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:06:00] So my role on the board of spare parts
has changed over time. Initially, one of the programing features of spare parts
is a program called Mini Art Museum. And the Mini Art Museum is a traveling art
museum. It features real contemporary artists whose works can be found in
collections of museums, contemporary art collections, the Mini Art Museum as a
collecting institution. And, initially, my role on the board was as a committee
member for the Mini Art Museum, and the structure of our board has changed. And
now I'm just on the regular board of spare parts. There are around nine of us
and we each have different- we each bring different things to the table where,
I've worked in a nonprofit arts organization and I had worked there for 10
years and made lots of contacts in the artist community here in San Antonio and
I'm able to be kind of a connector for people and for things to come to
fruition, so I think that's kind of my role in the board. But, in addition to
that, we're also responsible for fundraising and for steering the organization
at a higher level, not bogged down on the day to day operations. That's what
our executive director and our staff do. But at the higher level, where do we
want to see that organization grow and who are the city leaders and business
people that we need to be in touch with to help sponsor an event? Or a program?
So that's kind of what we focus on, the higher the higher level of the
nonprofit organization. The financials, the long term planning. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:08:27] And previous to that you had mentioned your work, in
what you just said, you talked about programing. What kind of functions or
programs does spare parts actually put out? What does that connection of waste
and artists actually look like? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:08:50] So in the past, for many years, spare
parts did a big materials giveaway [inaudible] arts fair and materials give
away. This would be done at different locations, but mostly at Wonderland of
the Americas mall where we would take over usually like two storefronts and we
would have a big donation drive. We'd have a list of acceptable donatable
materials and we would also have contacts at businesses and they could give us
extra things that they wouldn't know what to do with. Like, I had at one point
in my car or something like, I don't want to over or underestimate let me think
(counting) thirty thousand to VHS cases. So, you know, it's things like that
when a business wants to get rid of things and they don't necessarily want to throw
it away because they say somebody could do something with this, I'm sure. So we
would be the interloper and we would intercept that kind of refuse and make it
so that a teacher would be able to turn all of those VHS cases into, one
teacher made grid mosaic. Which is, you know, wonderful, but you know art can
be made out of anything. And that's another important takeaway, and motto: that
art can be made out of anything. 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:10:49] Did I answer your question?
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:10:52] Yes. Are there other programs beyond the one you
just mentioned?
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:11:02] So our programing, sorry. Other things
that we do is professional development for teachers. So teachers will come to
us and we can help figure out ways to grow professionally through educating
them on ways that they can reuse materials in their classroom. We also get
contracted through school districts to provide art class; basically, when the
school district doesn't already have art teachers there. We also partner with
government agencies. So, there's a young men's correctional facility and we go
in and provide programming there for that audience. We also are hired by other
organizations to provide our services for their events. So an example of that
is the organization called Ruby City would hire spare parts to. To provide
activities and programming that aligns with that organization and uses us to
facilitate it. So, at Ruby City, they do an event called Bubble Fest and there
are lots of different aspects of Bubble Fest, but I think all of our
programming is net-zero waste. So, when you go to Bubble Fest you're going to
be drinking out of reusable cups, there [are] cloth napkins there is no waste
generated at these kinds of events. And, we also can provide take-home art
activities that happen with the support of people that donate materials and
supplies. That is an example of the kinds of different programing that spare
pARTS provides. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:13:35] Excellent! Stepping away from spare parts
specifically and focusing maybe on you; so you and I met via the library. Have
there been skills or tools that you've learned from either the library or your
nonprofit work translated to the other? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:14:04] I would say so, yes. So I am probably
the poster child of internships and volunteering. I think that it's incredibly
important to get your foot in the door and volunteer if you can because that's
a way where you can get hands-on experience in a place and find out if it's
what you're really passionate about. Don't be afraid to volunteer somewhere, it
could change your life. And in my case, all of the places that I've worked have
been places where I had previously volunteered. I volunteer. I interned at Art
Pace in the archives department and then they hired me on, and I went through
the whole organization in various capacities where I eventually ended up
working there and my last role there was the Residency and Archives Associate.
So I worked with the repository of collections that we had and also worked with
all of the incoming artists, the residents, as well as all of the curators. So
Art Pace will always be near and dear to my heart. At the same time that I was
working there, I also volunteered at the San Antonio Public Library because
libraries are also near and dear to my heart. I studied library science and
eventually became a full-time librarian with the San Antonio Public Library
System. So I think even if the end goal of possibly being hired where you're
volunteering isn't your main objective in wanting to volunteer, volunteer
anyway. Your time and your skills, your knowledge, everything that you bring to
the table is so unique to you. It's so valuable and it's so needed in the
world. You know, right now, people are wondering how they can help during a
time like now where we have a global panic, and there is a need for people to
have food. So, you know, a really critical place where people can volunteer
right now is the San Antonio Food Bank. But beyond that, there are lots of
organizations that are aching for people's help and support right now. If you
can volunteer support in some other way. If you can provide some kind of skill
or service in-kind, that's a fantastic way to kind of help people up, help
build the community up and help support nonprofits. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:17:14] It's funny that you mentioned specifically the San
Antonio food bank; tangentially related to that, the president of the food bank
gave a TED talk talking about the benefits of volunteering and he touched on a
lot of the points you just made, and I think that is pretty fabulous. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:17:45] Back at the library, you are the teen librarian and,
as being a product of lots of volunteering, how do you raise volunteer
attendance? How do you get all your volunteers? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:17:59] That is a great question. So part of the
roles and responsibilities of teen librarians for the San Antonio Public
Library system is that we are also the volunteer liaison for wherever we're
placed. I happen to be at the Parman Branch Library at St. Oak, it's a really
long title. As the volunteer liaison, I came on board there in the summer of
2019 and I was informed that there would be kind of a stronger volunteer
presence than normal, but it eventually grew to kind of beyond my scope of
understanding. I don't know what it is about this area, but people, especially
teen high school students are so eager to volunteer. So, in the month of
February before this whole COVID-19 thing shut down libraries in person, I had
fifty seven active volunteers for the month of February. So, hundreds of hours!
I am fortunate to be in a position where I don't have to actively recruit
volunteers and they are spreading through word of mouth, their experiences that
they like being at the library, that they love libraries, they love being able
to help libraries in whatever capacity that they can. You know, everybody
again, brings different skills and strengths to the table, whether that's
illustration, being good with numbers and organization, being good with hands
on activities like making crafts. There are lots of different tasks that
volunteers accel at and really dive deep in, and enjoy, and help out with, but
that's not always the case. I think you have to find your community of interest
and that's your responsibility to work to help raise volunteers. I can guarantee
you that there are people out there in the world that are interested in the
things that you are interested in. You just have to find them. I guess it's
easier said than done, right. But there are web sites where you can find
volunteers; networking, social media, social media is a great place to find
volunteers. All of the above. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:21:00] What a beautiful problem to have, you just have
like, volunteers falling over to come help you. 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:21:06] Yeah, I could. I couldn't exactly tell
you what it is. I could tell you it's Chris Castillo, they come to volunteer
with me. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:21:13] [laugher] Hardly! 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:21:19] In that, you mentioned the virus. How has that
affected your nonprofit operations? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:21:30] Wow, that is the can of worms today.
So, a lot of the grants that spare parts had petitioned and had written
proposals for happened right before COVID-19 really stopped everything here in
the US. We had five active grants that were out and they were all written in
such a way that they were reliant on being able to physically, in person, carry
out the programming that those grant funds would underwrite. So as it stands,
we don't expect to receive any of those funds. That's not to say that spare
parts is still not being operationally sound. We are operationally sound right
now through our previous 2019 grant. We are operationally sound thanks to our
2019 season of grants that we had received. But, COVID-19 has really stopped in
our tracks things like our materials give away, other income generating events
that we were counting on, like the Big Give. Our nonprofit has applied for
emergency funding and we probably will not hear back to know if we've received
that kind of funding for another four months. So as an organization, it's a
really tough time, tough times. But I think every arts organization and almost
every nonprofit [is] very scared right now. It's a very hurry-up-and-wait kind
of time right now, but we remain hopeful and- we remain hopeful. Period, full
stop. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:23:53] Full stop. Have there, while remaining hopeful, have
there been solutions to any of the walls that you've hit in the meantime of,
maybe, continuing to deliver some sort of programming? Or has that come to a
stop? 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:24:14] No! Life finds a way, and so we are
figuring out with our, with the contracts that we do have, how we can still
provide our service to the public. So whether that means providing that service
digitally or lesson plans, we're still in the process of understanding what we
can do with what we have. And I think that that's underlying, that's the
underlying message of the organization: what we have is all we need. And so if
we can offer our knowledge set digitally, we're in the process of figuring out
how we can make that happen. Now, in terms of connecting the physical with
people who need it, we don't have a solution for that, right now, anyway. But I
think that with time, we will have to figure things out because we know one of
our main goals as an organization is to have a physical space where we can-
where we have a warehouse, and we have a dock, and we have a retail store, or
we have a meeting space, you know, the whole nine yards. Even though we can't
meet in real life, we're gonna have to figure out ways that we can still
accomplish what we need to accomplish. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:26:04] Do you have any insight or advice for any other
organization or individual that can be applicable in what you guys have done in
light of the virus?
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:26:19] I think that having a very strong
board, having a really strong foundation, having restricted funds, for example,
being very fiscally prudent, being ready to have kind of those lean times is
really, really important because most non-profits, even businesses, never plan
for the worst, and I think that you have to. We are still operationally sound,
you know. We have expenses that still have to get paid whether or not COVID-19
is a factor or not. We have rent, we have internet, we have those kinds of
things, we have to pay an executive director, we pay our staff. Those things
don't stop. So, be an advocate for those who might stand to lose the most in a
situation and prepare! Prepare for the worst. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:27:54] Well, Chris, I think you answered all my questions.
Thank you for doing this. 
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<p><br><b>Chris </b>[00:28:01] Thank you so much again for having me.
It was my pleasure and my honor, Adam. 
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<p><br><b>Adam </b>[00:28:07] Thank you. It was lovely. 
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Adam Garza
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