The Cameron Gallery

inspiration. reuse. community.

on exhibit now

April 1st -July 31st 2026

Ministry of Cardboard

with Artist-In-Residence Jason Lord

Work on “The Ministry of Cardboard” underway in the Cameron Gallery, featuring cardboard faces by Eli Carley. Photo by Jason Lord.

“Making this creative temple within The Scrap Exchange, I realized what I’m doing is creating a temple within a temple. For me, and for tons of people who have lived in Durham, this place has always been a creative temple. You come here because you are trying to find something interesting to make something out of. It’s like, the promised land, and there are other people like you all around.” - Jason Lord

Exhibition Opening Event: Saturday, June 27, 6:00 to 8:00 PM

From April 1st until July 31st, @jasonearllord‍ ‍will transform the gallery into The Ministry of Cardboard, an immersive, improvised, and site-responsive installation that remains open to the public as its form emerges.

Contributing artists include Calvin Brett, Cassandra Liuzzo, Matt Fisher, Carson Whitmore, Lucia Marcus, Peter Deligdisch, Eli Carley, Kate Robinson, and Laura Williams.

Stay up to date with Ministry hours, an open call for cardboard art, and other ways you can be involved at @theministryofcardboard

Statement from Jason:

“The Ministry of Cardboard” is a site for the overhaul of flat systems. Every cardboard box arrives with a built-in map of seams and folds that dictate how it’s meant to function as a container. This is a place to examine those existing structures, modify the rules, and pull those closed worlds open. While we plot our collective liberation, we practice identifying existing structures that work for our goals, adapting those with potential, and discarding actual trash to assemble new frameworks that match our vision. We reuse what we can, and we eliminate any cardboard that's too rotten to build with.

“As we look through the intended use of the material to see what else it can become, new possibilities unfold. When an individual starts cutting against the grain, the box stops being a product and starts being a different way of thinking and building—it grows into the community as a way to practice collective dreaming. The Ministry of Cardboard transforms a scrap pile into a base of operations for the construction of new worlds that we build together.”

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

SUBMIT HERE

DEADLINE to submit is June 4th!!

our mission

The Cameron Gallery is a space where the creative spirit and environmental awareness meet. By showcasing artists that utilize secondhand and repurposed materials, we encourage dialogue that aligns with the larger The Scrap Exchange mission: rethinking our relationship to waste, reuse, consumerism, sustainability, and the circular economy.

Beyond just presenting artwork, The Cameron Gallery also serves as a laboratory; a place for experimentation, pushing boundaries, and investigating what is possible when we make use of abundant resources we would otherwise discard. Through projects like our burgeoning Artist-In-Residence program, we encourage innovation and exploration by providing time and space for reckoning with the ecological burdens of waste and consumer culture.

Sharing the artists’ creative process, and the resulting artworks, invites all Scrap Exchange visitors to rethink how and what they consume. We strive to offer an experience that will inspire both artists and non-artists alike, by sparking their creative spirit and helping them to see beauty in what they may have once thought of as trash.

artist-in-residence program

The Cameron Gallery’s Artist-In-Residence program offers a yearly, 3-month opportunity to one local North Carolina artist. It comes with a stipend, plus the use of our gallery and materials, in order to create their own laboratory for reckoning with and rethinking how, what, and why we consume. Selected participants will be ones who present an expansive and unique approach to art making. They will exhibit a strong interest in experimentation and incorporate topics like consumerism, waste, sustainability, and circular economies into their practice. All work will be new and created on site using our materials.

While still in its development phase, we hope to fully launch this project and accept our first round of applications sometime in 2027. If you are an artist, please check back next year, or follow us on Instagram, to find out when applications open. If you would like to know how you can support this program please reach out to gallery@scrapexchange.org.

past exhibits

A handful of outtakes from nearly two decades of exhibitions across three locations

  • Amy Centner / Bits and Pieces - 2026

  • Owen MacRorie and Bee Mangine / Trashion Forward - 2025

  • Karen Stinehelfer - 2025

  • Victoria Desanctis / Consumed - 2025

  • Derek Huss - 2024

  • Julia Gartrell - 2012

  • Julia Gartrell - 2012

  • Tom Dawson - 2014

  • Jim Kellough - 2015

  • Christopher Kerney - 2014

  • Triangle Book Arts - 2014

  • Caroline Crawford - 2014

  • Devin Utah - 2014

  • Katherine Soucie - 2016

  • Kimberely Cartwright - 2012

  • The ABC's of REUSE - 2014

  • Jefferson Garvey - 2016

  • Ron Liberti, Matt Hart, Daniel Bagnell, Galen Williams - 2013

  • Danielle James / Magical Thinkers - 2025

  • Ash Lorusso / Magical Thinkers - 2025

  • Jennifer Latham Robinson / Consumed - 2025

call for submissions

Yellow House Gallery

February-April // May-July // August-November

Submissions Ongoing

The Yellow House is our newest gallery dedicated to showcasing tiny art. If you create fine art on a micro scale, or have one small showstopper that would fit into a little under one cubic foot of space, please submit! Exhibits run for three months and will put your creations front and center in our lobby right outside the main gallery.

For more pictures of the gallery and info about how to apply follow the link below

More Info

The Ministry of Cardboard

Submission Deadline June 4th, 2026 by 11:59 pm

Our current artist-in-residence, Jason Lord, is looking for artists who want to contribute small works to his site-specific installation. The artwork must be made using uncoated, unpainted, brown corrugated cardboard, in recognition of its structural, aesthetic, and symbolic integrity. Works that obscure, significantly alter, or cosmetically override the inherent surface qualities of the material will not be considered. Works will be reviewed for adherence to the call’s criteria. If your work is accepted you will be contacted by the artist with instructions for drop-off.

To learn more and apply, click the link below

Apply

Pitch Us!

Our exhibition schedule for 2026 is full. We will be accepting proposals for our 2027 season from July 1st - September 31st, 2026.

Have a big idea that doesn’t fit any of our calls for art? If you have a solo exhibition you’d like to submit for consideration, or maybe a group show idea that’s looking for a venue, pitch it to us!

Follow the link below to learn more about the parameters for submitting your idea.

CLOSED

Please note that all accepted artwork must be delivered and picked up in-person. We do not have the capacity to handle mailed submissions.

HAVE A QUESTION THAT WE HAVE NOT ANSWERED HERE? VISIT OUR SUBMITTING ARTIST’S FAQ PAGE

about the gallery

Since our founding in 1991, The Scrap Exchange has been committed to supporting local artists and reuse creators. Originally called The Green Gallery, our exhibition space was renamed The Cameron Gallery with funds donated by longtime benefactor Danny Cameron, who is also a creative reuse artist. Our gallery’s mission is to provide an accessible exhibition space for practicing artists in our community, advocate for the inclusion of reused materials in art, and inspire our customers’ own creativity.