Whether you’re trying to get rid of some items in your home or looking to add to your decor, the Friends of Rockford Art Museum have a solution.

Elegant Clutter, “a crafty sale of repurposed goods,” will take place on May 2 and 3 at Riverfront Museum Park, 711 N. Main St., in Rockford. The market will feature donated goods—many altered and enhanced by members of the Friends of Rockford Art Museum—which will be available for purchase. 

All proceeds will go toward the Rockford Art Museum’s maintenance costs.

Julie Lindsay, president of the Friends of Rockford Art Museum, said this is the first ever Elegant Clutter event.

“We were trying to come up with additional ideas for raising funds for the museum,” she said. Elegant Clutter seemed like an excellent way to incorporate art into a flea market-style fundraiser.

While some items will be sold with no alterations, Lindsay said what makes this event special is that members of the Friends of Rockford Art Museum are getting crafty with many of the donated pieces to give them a French flair. She said they are reinventing pieces, updating paint jobs and changes the artistic style to make the items more desirable, as well as to give attendees ideas for how to create their own home decor.

“Not every piece are we going to modify or change, but a lot of items we’re giving a different flair to,” Lindsay said.

The Friends of Rockford Art Museum held a drop-off day on March 22 at Stuhr Commercial, 9958 Alpine Road, in Loves Park, where people were able to drop off art, furniture and accessories to be sold in the fundraiser. Lindsay said the items they are not looking for are clothes, but almost anything else is fair game.

“You can do a lot of things with items, but clothing you can’t do as much with,” she said.

Lindsay said so far the Friends have received everything from towels to napkin holders to pieces of furniture.

There will be more opportunities in April to drop items off for the fundraiser. During the last week in April, pieces can be dropped off at Riverfront Museum Park as the Friends are setting up for the event.

Lindsay said she can’t know for sure how much money Elegant Clutter will raise since it will be in its first year, but the Friends hope to earn $5,000 for the Rockford Art Museum’s operational and maintenance costs.

For more information on Elegant Clutter and future drop-off days, visit www.rockfordartmuseum.org.

–Jessica Cabe