Nicole McGee

 

Upcycle Artist and Entrepreneur

 

by Carriona Rivers, crew 3

 

 

 

If you won the lottery, what would you do? If Nicole McGee won, she would give back to the community. McGee, a local artist, is already giving back through her upcycled art.

 

McGee started her own business, where she had freedom to do what she wanted to do. McGee left her business because she wanted to work with the broader community. McGee works with 35 different restaurants across five states. These restaurants are locations of Aladdin’s Eatery, which has its headquarters and 10 locations in Cleveland. This business displays her handcrafted, recycled materials as floral centerpieces. McGee also makes brown paper bags into art such as stationery, paintings, and wall art. Overall, her jewelry is her most popular item.

 

McGee, 34, is working on creating the Upcycle Parts Shop to help others get materials for their own recycled art. She defines upcycling as “taking materials or a place that other people don’t value you in and giving it value and making it useful.”

 

McGee has a one-year-old baby boy nicknamed Harvey. His full name is Harvest because he was born around Thanksgiving. McGee’s husband works with her for at least five hours a week by helping with things like cutting wires.

McGee, who was born in Pennsylvania, wanted to be a seamstress because her mom was good at sewing. However, McGee recognized that with sewing there was a need to measure and be precise, but she wasn’t never good at it. Instead, she became an artist.

 

McGee attended Rocky Grove High School and Penn State University, where she studied communications and international studies, and minored in Spanish. At Cleveland State University, McGee got her master’s in sociology.