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Our first email, reaching out to community leaders to discuss our idea, was on September 29, 2017.  Sometimes it seems like progress is painfully slow, but when you look at what we’ve done together, it’s pretty remarkable.  Check it out:

• October 15, 2017: Domain name registered, website launched, Facebook page started.
• November 18, 2017: First blog post.
• November 23, 2017: Name changed from “The Brickyard Project” to “The Brickyard Collaborative”.
• December 3, 2017: Work started on filing for 501(c)3 Non-Profit status
• December 23, 2017: Application for Urban Agenda grant filed.
• December 30, 2017: “Meet and Greet” at Land of a Thousand Hills draws over 50 interested people.
• January 18, 2018: The Brickyard Stakeholders Meeting

The January 18th meeting at the Lynn Museum was a chance for us to pull together leaders from all over the North Shore to tell about our project and vision.  It was attended by over 75 of the region’s government, educational, arts and workforce leaders, as well as interested makers and artists.  Among others, here’s a short list of people who attended:

Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development: *Charles Gaeta, *Jeff Weeden, Mayor: *Tom McGee, Lynn EDIC: *Jim Cowdell, Lynn Department of Community Development: *James Marsh, EforAll: Kevin Moforte, Impact Lynn: *Norm Cole,  Lynn Chamber of Commerce, St. Mary’s Board of Directors: Glenn Morris, Beyond Walls (Community Mural Project): Al Wilson, Amanda Hill, *Pedro Soto, Lynn Arts/Lynn Museum: *Drew Russo, MassDevelopment: Joe Mulligan,  Lynn School Committee: *Michael A. Satterwhite, The Haven Project: Gini Mazman, North Shore Community College President Dr. Patricia Gentile ,Montserrat College of Art President Steve Immerman, KIPP Academy: Hugo Carvajal, Jay Galbraith, Representative *Brendan Crighton, Representative *Dan Cahill.

*Lynn residents

See the video here:

• February 25, 2018: Pop-Up Classes announced.
• March 3, 2018: The Brickyard “UpCycle Central” announced.
• March 9, 2018: The Brickyard joins the Northeast Massachusetts Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (NEM STEM) conference at North Shore Community College
• March 10, 2018: Pop-Up class registration at Land of a Thousand Hills: Meet, Greet and Sign Up!  Over 60 people attended, with over 45 signups.
•  March 13, 2018: BioTech Hacker/Makerspace announced.
• March 25, 2018: We receive our EIN number from the IRS, appoint our Board, and join the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce Workforce and Economic Development Committee.  Also this week was the HUD CDBG Community Advisory Committee hearing, where we presented supporting our application.
• April 5, 2018: We launch our “BrickStarter” drive, raising over $3500 in 30 days.
• April 6, 2018: We do an initial inventory and valuation of the equipment we have in storage, ready for use.  The total valuation is over $16,000, at “used” pricing, including wood, metal, automotive, bicycle and motorcycle shops, along with imaging, sound and video studio equipment.
• April 18, 2018: The Brickyard Collaborative teams with the Lynn Public Library and their QuaranTEEN makerspace program.
• April 22, 2018: First workshops announced.
• May 7, 2018: The Brickyard (FREE) Bike Project announced.
• May 10, 2018: Our Board is finalized with the addition of Karen Chacon.
• May 18, 2018: We reach out to potential members to build a list of space and needs requirements.  Over a dozen potential full members respond.
• June 16, 2018: The Brickyard hosts BattleBots teams Overhaul and Brutus, from the Discovery Channel’s BattleBots series’ third season, in collaboration with the Lynn Public Library “Libraries Rock” summer reading launch.  Over 150 people attend the event.

This event in particular demonstrates the power of collaboration and cooperation.  Take a look at the video of the day’s events here:

Not bad for less than a year’s work, right?

There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s great to see how much has been accomplished in a short period of time.  Our key focus now?  Finding a space!

As always, stay tuned, and…

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

This is it, kids!  Sunday, July 1 is your last chance to buy tickets, and the drawing will happen at 12:30!

Check out the details on the bike raffle here – it’s a great like-new bike, and just got freshened up by The Brickyard Collaborative!

Yup, Lynn Community Television did a great little spot on the Libraries Rock! event, and they gave us the mike!

 

A while back we were pitching our grant application at a hearing, and the Chair listened to about half of what we had to say, and said “You have nothing!” It was more than a little disconcerting, because, in fact, we had about 300 followers on social media, we had workshops we’d put together with some money coming in, we had a 501(c)3 corporation, we had a Board of Directors, we had an enormous amount of enthusiastic support from all over the North Shore creative community, and, oh yeah… we had about $20,000 worth of equipment in storage, ready to be used.

But yes, point taken. We didn’t have a space.

Since then we’ve done even more. We’ve built a partnership with the Lynn Library, and helped their QuaranTEEN Makerspace program with cross-promotion and equipment, along with bringing a few workshops to them. We’re working with LaVida Scholars to lend them some of our digital imaging gear, to help them broaden their Summer programs. But this past weekend? This weekend was something else.

Saturday was the launch of the Library’s Summer Reading Program, a kickoff called “Libraries Rock!” To help them attract a few more people, we made a few calls, sent a few messages, and pulled in a few favors. We got two teams from The Discovery Channel’s BattleBots series, now in their 3rd season, to come show their machines. Overhaul, headed by Charles Guan of MIT, and Brutus, headed by Adam Bercu and represented by Amanda Fowler, came with their 250lb battle-scarred robots and talked to the kids on the lawn for over two hours. Overhaul got opened up for the first time since the fights, where we all saw the charred remains of it’s battery packs and drive systems.

You could plainly see – more than a few kids, and adults too, had a few ideas hatching. Amanda and Charles had a mission to get some potential robot-builders started and on their way… and they obviously accomplished it that day.

The Library Summer Reading Program will typically bring in around 30-40 people with some games, the WAAF Street Team, some giveaways and prizes. We counted over 100 people yesterday listening to our presentation, and probably another 50 that came and went. The Reading Program’s signups? …a whole lot higher than usual, to the delight of the Library staff.

So yeah, if you call that “having nothing”, just imagine what we’ll accomplish when we have a space.

For more photos of the day, wander on over to the blog, here: BattleBots Comes to Lynn!

Stay tuned, but in the meantime, as always…

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