Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Wetmore Road.
San Antonio visual artist Mary Elizabeth Cantú, the founder of Spare Parts Center for Creative Reuse, a shop for second-hand arts and crafts supplies, has died at age 45.
Spare Parts announced Cantú’s passing in a Thursday afternoon Instagram post. The message didn’t include a cause of death for Cantú, who devoted her life to creative reuse for more than 15 years.
Cantú started the innovative business “out of necessity” as an arts educator who lacked the funding and resources required for her otherwise supported ideas in the classroom, according to the store’s post.
“Wanting to provide the best experience for her students, she got creative and asked around to source materials that could be reimagined and repurposed for the classroom,” Executive Director Maggi Peachey said in the Instagram post.
From there, Cantú realized the need was larger than her own. Thus Spare Parts was born.
“Mary discovered there was a significant need for a creative reuse organization in San Antonio to assist educators, donors, and to reduce waste. And so, a local grassroots movement began,” the post continued.
For 10 years, Cantú operated her creative reuse organization out of garages and storage units. Eventually, Peachey — who was then serving in a volunteer capacity — asked Cantú if she wanted help opening a brick-and-mortar store.
Spare Parts, located at 13491 Wetmore Road, opened in December 2020 and became San Antonio’s first-ever creative reuse store, as well as a hub for San Antonio creatives.
“Everything you see around you has the potential to be trash. Everything,” Cantú told the Current less than a month after its opening. “And we know there isn’t room in our landfills for this stuff. We have to be smarter about the way we interact with the things around us, because there’s no such thing as throwing something away. It doesn’t disappear; it goes somewhere and usually stays there for a long time. Our creative community can help with diverting trash. They can transform it into beautiful art or turn it into a creative project.”
The post honoring her memory echoed the credo, stating, “She would often share the quote ‘trash is a failure of the imagination.’ She believed it wholeheartedly.”
Members of the San Antonio arts community shared their heartbreak and condolences in comments on the post, some referring to her as a “visionary.”
“We are so heartbroken over this news,” local arts nonprofit Say Sí commented. “Mary was an amazing proponent for access to arts. We will miss her dearly…”
Local creative Jennifer Herrera commented, “I’m glad Mary’s dream of Spare Parts came true, and we were all along for the ride.”
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This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2025.