Welcome to the Brickyard Collaborative – The North Shore's 100% Volunteer Makerspace
That’s right! For February Break, the kids came back to the Brickyard to build another boat!
This time, rather than start off from scratch, they’re doing the stuff “behind the curtain” – learning how to complete and finish the boat, along with actually forging some of the tools they need.
Stay tuned for more photos… more to come this week!
Since the beginning, we’ve worked hard to make our resources available to everybody who wants to be a member. We have, since we started, run a pretty significant sponsorship program.
We don’t ask a lot of questions, all we really need to know is that there’s a need, and there’s a desire to create, collaborate and learn and be part of our Brickyard community. We’ve helped out quite a few people – Right now we have two teachers from the local schools, who bring in classes of kids to use our RISO printer, two students working on their degrees, one person with a disability, one Veteran and a couple of single parents. All told, this represents nearly $1500 of sponsored fees per month, or $18,000 per year.
In past years some of this has been covered by grants, but honestly, we cover most of this expense out of pocket. We don’t talk about it, we don’t make a big thing about it, we just do it, and welcome folks into our community. But, of course, we could use some help and support. These memberships are for anybody with a need, primarily for Lynn residents, or people who grew up here…
Want to help us out and sponsor a member? It’s easy. Donate any amount, any level on this page using PayPal – you can use a PayPal account, or a debit or credit card: Donate
You can also send us a check, to The Brickyard Collaborative, 589 Essex St #207, Lynn, MA 01901.
Thanks, and as always, “Keep making stuff. Take care of people, play nice and clean up after yourselves!”
Well, first, a heartfelt THANK YOU to the generous donors who have helped us get closer to meeting our goal!
Second, work in the shop has begun! What you see above is the boatbuilder’s “form” (or “jig”, or “temporary frames”) around which the boat will be built. And here’s a photo of the first plank as it was put in place:
This build will happen over the course of December and January, and it serves, with the help of the kind folks at Community Boatbuilding, to help us learn the finer points of teaching the process. Once complete, this will go to the fine folks at Kayak and Sail Lynn for use by the kids and veterans of Lynn.
In the meantime, of course, we’re still looking for your help! Follow this link, donate what you can, and help us build our program! Donate to The Brickyard here!
More to come!
Well, folks, we had a great time at the official launch of our Boatworks program at the Museum last week! We posted up photos here, on our Facebook page: Boatworks at the Brickyard at the Museum! …take a look! Our Tiny Boats got a lot of interest too:
This week we’re officially starting the tooling up process, getting the forms built and getting our teaching staff up to the cutting edge. More on that later, we’ll have some photos this week.
…and a little bit of challenging news. In spite of the fact we raised over $20,000 in matching funds for the program, MassDEV took a pass on our grant request. Some days you make the cut, some days you don’t. This makes it a little more challenging to launch the project, but, along with the funds you’ve donated, we’re going to be working hard to raise more donations. Be assured, your generous donations will go directly to teaching kids to build boats!
Want to help us out? You can, using PayPal, either with your credit or debit card, or your PayPal account, by clicking this link: Donate!
Every dollar counts, and we’re a 501c3, so your donation is tax-deductible!
Stay tuned for more news coming soon!
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