Blog

There’s been a lot going on, and a lot of work behind the scenes. You know there usually is when you get radio silence from us…

First off, we need to thank everyone who made our Patronicity campaign a huge success back in August!  Of course we all know what trying times we’re living in, and to be honest it was hard to even ask for help.  The community stepped up and showed us they believe in us and our work, and that means a whole lot to us.  We made our goal and then some, and got our grant request in just under the wire…  Fingers crossed Mass Development will support us the same way they’ve helped us in the past.

Next, we have a new home!  We were able to work out a deal with our landlord and take over a space only a short walk down the hall.  We picked up about 1000 sq/ft, bringing us up to 4600 sq/ft, with a much more usable layout.  Our new address is Suite 107B at 71 Linden St.  As of last weekend we got all our members tucked into their new digs, and we’re working to get the shop areas a little more organized and set up.  You’ll see our new “Rapid Prototyping” lab with 6 filament 3D printers, a Formlabs SLA printer, our Glowforge laser cutter and the Vaquform vacuum forming press, along with the Shapeoko CNC router that’s been a workhorse for us.  Of course, there’s all the rest of our gear, now a lot more organized.

Take a look at the photos – we have more flex-space for the big projects, and room for a handful of new member spaces as well:

Yes, after a long wait, we’re re-opening our Makerspace to new memberships!

As you’re probably aware, we shut down, along with the rest of the world, in mid-March (except for our PPE work).  We bided our time, and slowly re-opened to members on a once-a-week basis, one person in the shop at a time.  We then loosened up a bit, along with the Governor’s mandates and guidelines, and we have, for the last few weeks, put a good working policy in place for our members’ safety and peace of mind.    Here’s the COVID Access document, if you’d like to review it: COVID Access. We also have some protocols in place to enable effective contact tracing.

Our Member Guidelines and Membership Agreement are pretty simple.  Use the space responsibly, show consideration and courtesy to other members and staff, and be safe.  Here are those documents as well: Member Guidelines, Brickyard Membership Agreement.  (Members are required to abide by these guidelines, and will go through a “3 strikes” warning procedure if there are problems.)

We’ve worked hard to provide a lot of input and engagement into our operations from members.  We have two member representatives on our Board of Directors, and we have two “ombudspersons” in our membership who serve to handle any issues that members might have, and don’t feel comfortable bringing to the staff or Board.

Right now we have a few 100 sqft studios available and capacity for several acccess/storage only memberships.  Interested in learning more?  Pop on over to our Membership page for the details!

Appointments for tours can be arranged, and you can get more info by contacting us, here.

Hope to see you soon!

Here it is, the last day of our Patronicity campaign.

We just topped $8000 of our $10,000 goal, and we’re just SO CLOSE!

Thanks to Bill Brotherton and the Lynn Daily Item for a great story yesterday!  If you missed it, check it out here: BRICKYARD COLLABORATIVE, A CREATIVE CO-OP, IS LOOKING TO MOVE TO DOWNTOWN LYNN

We’ve made so many friends and worked with so many collaborators in Lynn and the North Shore over the last 3 years…  Thanks to all our backers! Especially in these times we know it’s hard to dig deep, but we appreciate the kind words and well wishes too!  Remember, we can accept any donations, tools and parts and that old drill press sitting in the corner of your garage, too.  Hit us up and we can come get it even…

If you’ve been meaning to send a donation, here’s that link: The Brickyard Collaborative 2020 It’s open until midnight tonight.

Stay safe all, stay tuned for updates and, most important, THANK YOU for all the love and support!

Ted

Our Patronicity campaign is going strong – but you may be wondering, “Why does The Brickyard need to expand if they’re doing so much already?”

Good question.

It’s kind of like your first car.  It wasn’t much to look at, but it ran (mostly).  It got you to where you needed to go.  The heat was a little sketchy, and AC was out of the question, but it never left you on the side of the road.  (Well, there was that once…). And the memories!  You saw the world in that car.

The Brickyard Collaborative’s home is 3600 square feet tucked in the corner of a warehouse, and as far as “warehouse chic” goes, it’s pretty cool.  It comes with loading docks, 14′ ceilings and neighbors with fork trucks…  but not AC or heat, and some pretty thready power and, well, no water except for the bathrooms across the hall.

This is our 3D printer farm, the one that helped to print 4000 pieces of PPE that went directly into the hands of the folks here in Lynn who needed it most: