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A Year Later…

On September 9th, last year (2017), I had this exchange on Facebook:

– “dude

let’s start up an incubator maker space STEAM thing in lynn”

– “I can set up a meeting…”

(…with Jaime Figueroa)

In case you weren’t able to make our Maker Meetup this past weekend, here’s where we’re at today:

Board Members:

  • Tia Cole
  • Mitch Ahern
  • Kristal Morfa
  • Karen Chacon
  • Claudio Martinez – Advisory

Michael Satterwhite – Attorney

Zhen Wu – Architect

Instructors:

  • Tia Cole -Soap
  • Sarah Bennett – Barefoot Gardening
  • Mitch Ahern – Letterpress
  • Teresa Dillard – Basic Bread
  • Keica Rideout – Knitting
  • Ted Dillard – Bike Repair/Photo Lighting

Volunteers:

  • Jon Justian
  • Sam Bryant
  • Lisa Neville
  • Jobeth Williams
  • Hannah Colbert

Jane Schafer, Bill Wendell – The Carriage House

Jocelyn Almy-Testa: RePurpose

Design, production:

  • Jennifer Adler – Survival by Design
  • Seth Albaum – Sound, LynnHappens
  • Stephen Foley – video

Jeff Wheden – LHAND

Special Thanks:

  • Jaime Figueroa
  • Lisa Wallace
  • Emily Jodoin
  • Peter Kramer

Partners/Collaborators

  • LaVita Scholars
  • KIPP Academy
  • The Haven Project
  • The Lynn Public Library/QuaranTEENs program (BattleBots event)

Current Status

501(c)3 Non-profit status established in March.

7 Active workshops:

  • Introduction to Letterpress
  • Repair Clinic: Bicycles
  • Barefoot in the Vegetable Garden
  • Basic Bread Baking
  • How To Make Soap (Without Melting Your Face)
  • Learn to Knit
  • Photo/Video Lighting: Understanding the Secrets of Lighting

12 interested members, one couple from the Worcester area makerspace community, one from the Lawrence community.

Grant Awards:

Grassroots Fund: $500

Community Development Block Grant: HUD $5000

In process:

MassDevelopment Collaborative Workspace Program: $50k

Mass DEP Sustainable Materials Recovery Program: $73K

Cummings Foundation: $33K

 

Facilities, Equipment:

Currently negotiating space: 6500 sq feet, open warehouse/light manufacturing space with 25’ ceilings, garage door and deck-height dock access (fork truck included for tenants’ use) for a 3-year lease.

Over $30k of equipment currently in storage:

  • Imaging – 3 full darkrooms, 1 complete photo/video studio, 1 high-resolution DSLR, 2 additional DSLRs, Epson color photo printer, scanner, workstation.
  • Video/Sound – GoPro cameras, Marantz PMD671 w/mikes
  • Complete wood shop: table saw, drill press, band saw, surface planer, compound mitre saw
  • Metal shop – band/hacksaw, South Bend 10” lathe, press, compressor, grinders, tooling
  • Finishing, Electronics, Robotics/RC

Donations through WorcShop (pending):

Welder, kilns, furnaces, milling and fabrication equipment

 

A few memories from the past year:

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The Maker Meet-up. (It’s Time)

When we first started talking about this makerspace idea, just about a year ago, it was really just a handful of people.  One thing led to another, and now we have a group of people who’ve come to see us, learned about what we’re doing, joined in, taken on some of the heavy lifting, taught classes, provided leadership…  you get the idea.  The thing is, we haven’t really had a chance to all get together in one place.

This month we are looking at our final awards letter from one grant, and decisions on two more that could enable us to pull the trigger and sign a space.  We’re looking at a few spaces, and talking with some landlords and brokers.  We’re accumulating equipment that we’re storing (and using if we can), and we’ve got a growing list of people who are excited about joining us.

We’ve also formed some pretty interesting and fairly powerful alliances – groups in Lynn, and groups up and down the North Shore as well – and they’re all interested in how they can be a part of what we’re doing.

So, the time has come to get everybody together, shake hands and dive in!

We need to put some faces to names, get off Facebook for a bit and put together some solid plans for the coming months.  I’ll be putting a slideshow together of the past year, and some teases for some spaces we may be calling home, along with some peeks at what we’ve got for you to use.  You will meet our Board, meet our instructors, meet our volunteers…  meet the people who have kept the momentum and enthusiasm growing!

We’re having this on the 29th of September, at Land of a Thousand Hills, 61 Monroe Street, from 11-2pm.  We’ll be putting together the Facebook Event, probably an Eventbrite too, just so we can keep track, but stay tuned and keep an eye out for the announcements.  Share with anyone who you think may be interested, this is open to everybody and for newcomers too!

(UPDATE: Registration – free – and more info on the Eventbrite page, here.)

Thanks for all that you’ve contributed, thanks for your help and involvement, and mark the date – see you then!

 

 

Ted

Keep making stuff. Take care of people, play nice and clean up after yourselves.

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rePurposes + The Brickyard

You may have read about our UpCycling mission here, on the UpCycling Central page.  A big part of that effort is exactly what one of our friends and partners, rePurposes does, and, they’ve been working hard on launching: collecting and sorting materials, getting the word out and putting their site together.  They were with us at the Rock the Block Festival, and now, they’ve officially launched their new site!  Check it out here: rePurposes, Creative ReUse Art Studio

Here’s some of the cool stuff they had at Rock the Block and currently have in stock:

(YES!  You saw what you thought you saw!  RUBBER DOTS and FUR!)  You can check what they have on hand here: Stock.

The folks at rePurposes have been at this for a long time – decades, in fact, and have a huge list of donors, types of materials and supplies available, and have a good sense of how to get it into artist’s and educator’s hands.  For The Brickyard it’s a match made in heaven – we’ve been working on putting this partnership together for, well, basically since we learned about what they’ve been doing, and can’t wait to see what the future brings!  For now, though, the site is a work in progress…  don’t worry if there are some loose ends, they’re working hard at tying them all up.

They’re starting off by offering an open-studio type sale on one Sunday a month, and you can find all the details on the site.  “Seek and ye shall find!”

Stop by, stock up and MAKE STUFF!

 

Keep making stuff. Take care of people, play nice and clean up after yourselves.

 

 

 

 

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The Brickyard at Rock the Block and the Mural Festival!

This year the Mural Festival is HUGE!  After a week and a half of work, the city is wrapping it up with a Rock the Block party that starts around 1pm on Saturday, the 18th, and goes until the early evening – the official end is 9pm, but there are after-parties galore!

And WE’LL BE THERE!  (Where?  25 Exchange Street is the central location, but all up and down Mt Vernon, too! – we’ll be packing up around 5-6pm, so don’t be late…)

Here’s what we’re planning:

  • A Maker’s Market – meet the makers, see their stuff, maybe take some home!
  • A Maker’s Flea – supplies, hackables, re-usables and extras, at flea market prices.
  • Learn to Knit!  Hands-on knitting workshop will get you knitting in a minute!  …or two.
  • A FREE Bike Clinic – bring your ride down and get a tune-up and learn the basics of bike maintenance – keep it safe, keep it reliable.  If you’re planning on coming for the Bike Clinic, please register here: EventBrite
  • A SUMO Robot battle!  Pick up the controls and test your driving skills against your buddies!  Pick a robot, maybe add some character, and go into battle…  Pikachu robots anybody?

In the meantime, got something to sell, teach, or share?  Send us a note!  We’re not charging fees to participate, but you must bring your own tables, chairs and tent.  Please let us know at least a week in advance (that’s, like, NOW!), so we can be sure we have space for you and get the word out!