One of my son's college classmates has established a non-profit community shop/workspace in Somerville.
Kevin Gallimore
What a terrible "About Us" page I tried to leave a comment and there doesn't appear to be a "send" button. ...lew...
These people had one and closed it, not sure why.
I just sent a message- it works for me (the button says "submit").
As far as the web page goes, Gui is an ME, not an ECE :)
I met Gui (my son's classmate) when his family and mine ended up at the Charles River Museum of Industry on Parent's Weekend. The museum, as you probably know, has a working shop in the back. The kids had never seen a shaper, and a little bench shaper was on two 4x4s on the floor. The Docent (bless him), seeing that the kids were interested, fired up the shaper. So Eric and Gui were down on the floor, watching the metal curl. Anyway, the young men and women that go/went to Olin do interesting things, and this is one of them.
Kevin Gallimore
A similar shop opened up here in the Boston area 5 to 10 years ago but it closed down pretty quickly.
The rumors were that the liability issues were too difficult to avoid and/or the insurance premiums were sky high.
Jeff
--For a little more on what works you might want to check out how they're paying the bills at TechShop, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
The big difference appears to be that the Asylum is set up as a nonprofit. Hopefully the kids (young men and women, I'm showing my age) will make a success of it. How has your experience been with the TechShop? What would you change?
Kevin Gallimore
If someone is looking for woodworking and painting experience they might consider joining a community theatre group. I was the master carpenter for one for a while and taught quite a few people the relatively simple skills involved.
There can be considerable room for creativity if the set design is a scribble on an envelope -- and I've gotten those from New York professionals.
The painting is crude, sloppy and fun. The nearest audience member who can see your work is maybe 50 feet away. The art director and I did a fake Jackson Pollack that we quartered after the show (it looks the same all over) and one panel has been moving around the art scene at a decent price.
jsw
--Wellll it's too far for me (80 miles each way) so I don't go but some folks I know from various places started it and they seem to be happy with how it's working out. There are plans to start other chapters but all of them seem to be south of San Francisco; nothing for us northerners yet..
+1 from Jersey. Learn construction, illusion, and working to a deadline. If the production needs it, work in metal, too. Get experience with lights and sound, if one is so inclined.
Kevin Gallimore
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