Method/Materials – Brooklyn Artisan

Joy’s Best of Brooklyn, November 9, 10, 11

November 7, 2012 by Joy Makon Leave a Comment

A chance to recharge, support and giveback: theater discounts, house and history tours and it’s Meat Week NYC with events to benefit Sandy recovery

Best of is glad to be back with more eclectic things to do in Brooklyn and Outer Brooklyn.
BE SURE TO CONFIRM with each event or venue as schedules and availability continue to change for many things.

Miguel Cervantes in the classic Giant, performed at the Public Theater. (photo by Karen Almond.)

Through Sunday: Off Broadway post-Sandy Discounts. Playhouses big and small were dark last week and as an enticement to get audiences to return, many are offering $20 tickets. Among the offerings: “A Summer Day” featuring Karen Allen, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and $15 tickets at The Public Theater for three shows. NYTimes lists participating theaters.

Through Sunday: Meat Week NYC, celebrating the farmers, markets and chefs who bring sustainable meat to our tables. Tastings, parties, butchering and cooking demos, market tours, talks. Updates to scheduled events will benefit Sandy relief efforts. Brooklyn and Outer Brooklyn locations, check the website for specifics.

Friday: The Shooting Gallery, part of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 30th Next Wave Festival. An interactive installation in which the audience will trigger short video and audio clips with lasers while circulating through the theater. “Creating something like a group gestalt,” according to director Bill Morrison. BAM Fisher Fishman Space, Fort Greene. 7:30pm and 9pm.

Friday: Broads for a Cause—An art benefit for Planned Parenthood. Opening reception and silent auction of artwork from over 45 female artists and tattooers. Sponsored by Coney Island Beer and Cupcakeland. At Eight of Swords Tattoo, Williamsburg. 7pm-11pm.

Saturday & Sunday: International Passive House Days. Four Brooklyn residences will be open for tours: two landmarked homes, two new construction. All use construction methods that meet Passive House standards: comfortable temperatures year round, affordable to build, energy savings, renewable. Various locations, check the website for information.

Saturday & Sunday: 21st Annual Quilt Show “Cool Quilts”. This annual exhibit showcases some of the most interesting quilts made in the area. This year’s show takes inspiration from the word cool. Lefferts Historic House, Prospect Park. 12pm-4pm.

Bldg92 at Brooklyn Navy Yard is on the tour on Saturday.

Saturday: Brooklyn Navy Yard by Bus: the Past, Present & Future of the Yard. Voted 2012 best tour by New York, this tour packs almost 400 years of city history in a little over two hours. At its peak, the Navy Yard employed tens of thousands of workers, but then stood idle for almost 30 years. In its current resurrection as a haven for artists and entrepreneurs, the Yard is becoming a model for sustainable urban industrial parks. Included in the tour is a closer look at the dry dock that’s been in use since before the Civil War, a hospital frozen in time, and the nation’s first multi-story LEED Gold-certified industrial building. Advanced ticket purchase is advised. Vinegar Hill. 2pm.

Saturday: The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. A one-day series of events featuring artists and publishers displaying and selling publications; lectures and conversations on comics; exhibits.
• Free public exhibition. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Williamsburg. 12pm-7pm.
• Events and talks throughout the day, such as a Q&A with Roz Chast at 2:30pm. The Knitting Factory, Williamsburg. 11am-4:30pm.
• Screening of two documentaries about cartoonists Joann Sfar and Ben Katchor. Followed with a discussion by filmmaker Sam Ball and subject Ben Katchor moderated by WFMU’s Benjamen Walker. At Union Docs, Williamsburg. 7:30pm.

Saturday: Farmy Folks Soiree Markets Fundraiser and Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony sponsored by the Hattie Carthan Community Farmers Market. You are invited to join in on a home-grown family-style feast, live eco and folk performances, locally grown/produced wines, local bread, more. Tickets required. Bedford Stuyvesant. 6pm-10pm.

Puppetmaking workshop at BAM, Sunday.

Sunday: Great for families The Sweatshirt Sheep Puppetmaking Workshop, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Part of BAMcinématek series Puppets on Film. Make your own puppets and then perform your creations in front of a camera. Be sure to check out other puppet programing throughout the weekend at BAM, Fort Greene. 11am, 2:30pm.

Sunday: Open Studio and Gift Sale by watercolor and ceramic artist Sally Mara Sturman. Paintings, illustrations, drawings, prints and pottery, old (really cheap!) and new (not so cheap).

Illustrated Ceramic Bowl by Sally Mara Sturman, Open Studio and Sale, Sunday

Sally’s Etsy site All Things Painted is also on sale [use coupon code: HOLIDAY1 for 20% off]. To visit her Lefferts Garden Open Studio, contact Sally for exact address. Please mention Brooklyn Artisan. 2pm-7pm.

Joy Makon curates Brooklyn Artisan’s Craft & Design coverage and creates the weekend to-do lists.
Send items for listings to brooklynartisan@joymakondesign.com

Filed Under: Architecture, Collectives, Community, Coworking, Craft/Design, farms/gardens, Galleries, Guilds/Fairs, Innovation, museums, Outer Brooklyn, Uncategorized, urban planning, Winery, brewery, distiller Tagged With: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Broads for a Cause, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Farmy Folks Soiree, Fort Greene, Lefferts Historic House, Meat Week NYC, Next Wave Festival, Off Broadway, outer Brooklyn, Passive House, Prospect Park, Puppetmaking, Williamsburg, workshop

More than just Halloween : : Joy’s best of Brooklyn for October 26, 27, 28

October 24, 2012 by Joy Makon Leave a Comment

Learn to sew, work with glass, get your bike repaired and sample homebrews

Ongoing through Sunday: Passport to Prospect Heights. Yelp is promoting numerous specials and events for locally-owned businesses in the nabe; check the Yelp site.

Kimchi Taco Truck makes the rounds
at the Parade Grounds.

Saturday and Sunday: Food Trucks at Prospect Park’s Parade Grounds. A rotating selection from Gorilla Cheese NYC, Kimchi Taco Truck, Mud Truck, Snap Truck, Toum Truck. “Reward your kid for a soccer game well played with an artisanal grilled cheese.” Ok. Through November 17. 8am-5pm.

Saturday and Sunday: Stained Glass Weekend at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn’s resource for aspiring and established artists to create with glass. This is a two-day beginner’s class to explore the fundamentals of cutting, copper foiling and soldering. Park Slope. 12pm-5pm, both days.

Outer Brooklyn Friday: Rubin Museum of Art. New and ongoing exhibitions of art of Himalayan Asia in a beautiful space. Friday events include: the K2 Lounge—light dining, drinks and entertainment by music stylist Kamala, and a screening of classic The 400 Blows by François Truffaut, introduced by author Annette Insdorf. At least one Brooklyn Artisan’s spouse is going to this one. Chelsea, Manhattan. Free admission 6pm-10 pm.

Saturday: Brooklyn Wort—Brooklyn’s Homebrew Competition. 25 brewers, one location, the public decides. Sponsored by Park Slope’s Brooklyn Homebrew, and Ditmas Park’s Sycamore. Event is held at Public Assembly, a former mayonnaise factory in Williamsburg. Tastings at 2pm and 4pm.

Saturday: The Art of Fashion Illustration: Antonio Lopez. A talk and exhibit about the 70s and 80s fashion illustrator. Guaranteed to contain fashion, art, sex and disco. The Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Dweck Center. 4pm

Artist Richard Eagan is inspiration
for a children’s workshop at 440 Gallery. (courtesy 440 Gallery)

Saturday: Sew Your Own Burlesque Dancer Halloween Costume. A class to learn how to use a sewing machine, hand sew, and “vamp up”. At Film Biz Recycling & Prop Shop, Gowanus. Sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery. 2:30pm-5:30pm.

Good for Families Sunday: Young Artists @ 440: Coney Island Amusements. A free, hands-on art workshop for children ages 4 to 12. Inspired by the current exhibition at 440 Gallery Art of the Coney Island Hysterical Society featuring work by Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano. Park Slope. 4:40pm-6:00pm.

Green-Wood Cemetery late October
walking tour. (photo ©all rights reserved, Green-Wood Cemetery)

Sunday: Free Bike Repair courtesy of Occupy Wall Street Bike Coalition. Prospect Park north entrance. 2pm-7pm

Sunday: The Annual Late October Walking Tour, Green-Wood Cemetery. Tales of murder, mayhem, spirits and ghosts led by Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman. Very popular, purchase tickets in advance. Two tours: 1pm and 3pm.

Sunday: Made in DUMBO Walking Tour. Given by Made in Brooklyn Tours—guided walking tours that tell the story of Brooklyn’s industrial revolution and revival through the creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Brooklynites past and present. 1:30pm.

Laugh: The Hipster Song. Maybe it applies to you, maybe it doesn’t. We hope it makes you smile.

Joy Makon curates Brooklyn Artisan’s Craft & Design coverage and creates the weekend to-do lists.
Send items for listings to brooklynartisan@joymakondesign.com

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Food/Drink, Galleries, Handmade, Method/Materials, museums, Outer Brooklyn, Uncategorized, Winery, brewery, distiller Tagged With: 440 Gallery, Antonio Lopez, Brooklyn brewery, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Wort, Ditmas Park, DUMBO, Film Biz Recycling & Prop Shop, food truck, Green-Wood Cemetery, Himalayan Asia, homebrew, Jeff Richman, Kimchi Taco Truck, locally owned, outer Brooklyn, Parade Ground, Philomena Marano, Prospect Heights, Prospect Park, Public Assembly, Richard Eagan, Rubin Museum, Sycamore, The Hipster Song, UrbanGlass, walking tour

Brooklyn Makers at Martha Stewart’s American Made Show

October 20, 2012 by Anne Mollegen Smith 1 Comment

THE DETAILS: A huge American Made sign in Grand Central Station gets
a going-over by Brooklyn Artisan inspectors. (Photos for BA/Mollie Ann Smith)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE UNDERGROUND BUZZ about Martha Stewart’s big Grand Central Station event is literally that – underground: in the food court, where I am buying a quick chicken caesar. Something (the Brooklyn Artisan tote bag over my shoulder?) must’ve tipped off Maria who is taking food orders at Tri Tip.

Martha Stewart's American Made was a big event for Maria, working at Tri Tip.

In the food court, Maria is excited that Martha Stewart’s upstairs.

“Have you been up to the Martha Stewart exhibit? It’s really fun,” she confides. “I made a key chain and I’m going back after my shift to make a necklace.” Usually she knits or crochets, but she says she has gotten a bunch of new ideas from the show. No, Maria didn’t see Martha Stewart in person, but to know she was there was…a good thing.

Up in Vanderbilt Hall, one long line snakes around to the silkscreening of custom tote bags, another waits on the food tastings, and a third crowd will attend the next class session in a screened off area behind the silver Toyota. Toyota, Westin Hotels, and JCP (as in James Cash Penny) are among the event sponsors. The craft tables are on the eastern side of the hall along with the UPS and Avery sponsor/information tables.

Foxy & Winston towels designed by Jane Buck, Red Hook, Brooklyn

Brooklyn’s Red Hook is the creative home of Jane Buck’s whimsical designs. (BA photo: Joy Makon)

Brooklyn is well represented at the craft tables. Red Hook’s Foxy & Winston display, for instance, shows tea towels, children’s aprons, pillow covers, wispy neck scarves, and letterpress cards printed with whimsical designs by Jane Buck: artichokes, hedgehogs, paddleboats, tugboats, peacocks.

Jane tells us her designs are printed in India on Indian cotton, and then the bolts are cut and the pieces sewn in the USA. She herself is an import, she mentions. As an art history and fashion student in London for five years, she was making a living by waiting tables. She met and was courted by a New Zealander. When his English visa ran out, he had to go home, and the closest spot to her he could find to live was New York. He is a wine importer. They traveled back and forth and then made the leap: 13 years ago on October 1, they were married in Central Park. It’s a love story that stretches halfway round the world and ends up in Brooklyn.

Jane Buck set up her design studio in Red Hook and opened a little retail area in the front. Now through that store and other outlets, her business has enough volume for her to afford an assistant three days a week. “Before that,” she says, laughing, “‘I’d be working in the back and when someone came in, I’d have to pop out from behind the curtain: ‘Hello, may I help you?'” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Handmade, Innovation, Look, Outer Brooklyn, Uncategorized Tagged With: Avery Dennison, Brooklyn Artisan tote bag, com, enormouschallenge, Etsy.com, Foxy & Winston, Grand Central Station, JCP sponsorship, Martha Stewart American Made, Toyota, UPS sponsor, www.vintagebycrystal.com

The Littlest Makers at Maker Faire

October 13, 2012 by Bruce Campbell 1 Comment

FOR A MOVEMENT THAT THE ECONOMIST magazine has declared may “herald a new industrial revolution,” there appears to be an inordinate amount of fun in the maker world, at least in the examples on view at the recent World Maker Faire 2012. Apart from the rolling cupcake-mobiles and the explosive “science” involving Diet Coke and Mentos, there were robots dancing Gangnam Style, a range of steampunk gadgetry and clothing, and a large number of—not to put too fine a point on it—toys.

Play appears to be a central value for makers, for many it may be a blast of fresh air from the spreadsheets and word processors of “adult” worklife. Get in your garage, create a robot or an autonomous helicopter, assemble a music machine that uses sunlight to generate music, put some flashing lights on your t-shirt that advertise your heartbeat. Why not?

Robot makers engineering the future at the booth of Brooklyn Robot Foundry.

In fact, of the many perspectives on fun at Maker Faire, the one from sub-four-feet was ever-intriguing, as thousands of children can attest. Brooklyn Robot Foundry was a substantial presence at Maker Faire, winning two Educator Awards, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Encore, Guilds/Fairs, Handmade, Outer Brooklyn Tagged With: afterschool, Brooklyn, computers, crafts, festivals, hacker, kids, maker, robots

Move Fast! 50% Off Basic Rate at 3rd Ward Right Now

October 12, 2012 by Anne Mollegen Smith 1 Comment

URGENT UPDATE: The Good News: Will Sansom of 3rd Ward has confirmed with brooklyn-artisan.net that people who join as new Basic Plan (usually $99 a year) members today through midnight, Monday night, October 15, can get a special rate of 50% off. Mention Brooklyn Artisan when you inquire.

The Not-so-good News: Thursday night’s session on using Kickstarter to raise funds for your business project was so packed that even people who’d registered in advance, like us, (but arrived two minutes late) were unable to squeeze in even to stand among the spillover crowd in the back. Craning our necks to peer around the corner, we could see the edge of a chart on a slide, couldn’t hear a bit better, and did become an annoyance to the people we were leaning on to get a peek.

Speaking of numbers, though, here are some stats on 3rd Ward. (Also, scroll or click down to our earlier story, below.)

Member transport: Bikes locked to the radiator along a 40-foot hallway.

It’s a story of 2’s. 3rd Ward recently took over Floor Two of the warehouse building, doubling their space overall (to about 30,000 square feet). Staff? Around 20 people. Courses offered? About 200. Membership? 2000. Members who work there fulltime? 200. How long has Will himself worked there? 2 years. Doing what? A lot of construction such as putting down plywood patches on the strip oak floor upstairs.

A somewhat, er, collegiate aesthetic on a bathroom door.

So all of the old wood strip floors upstairs are rough and patchy, yes, but still kinder underfoot than the gleaming polished concrete downstairs.

You can pay less now, but soon get more. Sansom also outlined expansion plans, some visibly under way, others still under (plastic) wraps. A members’ cafe. More classrooms. An expanded shop for metalworkers, to match the new woodshop. A brand new sculpture room. And new, better bathrooms are promised, forgoing the, um, old college radio station aesthetic. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Craft/Design, Guilds/Fairs, Handmade, Innovation, Manufacturing, Method/Materials, The Business Side Tagged With: 3rd Ward, co-working, collective, craft classes, fabrication, makerspace, metal work, shared spaces, the makers, Williamsburg, woodworking

The Makers Find Their Way to Brooklyn’s 3rd Ward

October 11, 2012 by Anne Mollegen Smith 2 Comments

SOME PEOPLE ARE MAKERS, SOME ARE TAKERS: We’ve been hearing that a lot from the top of the Republican ticket this fall. But however you plan to vote, there’s no denying that the hive of activity that is 3rd Ward comes from the makers. It’s a school, it’s workshops, it’s a hangout space. The membership is diverse in age, ability, and skills, but they all come to the repurposed warehouse in Williamsburg to work, to learn, and usually to share. Brooklyn Artisan visited on a recent Sunday evening and the place was buzzing.

3rd Ward customer service specialist Erica Eudoxie

Customer service rep Erica Eudoxie has worked at 3rd Ward for 18 months and taken 13 courses. Her long-term interest is jewelry making.

The only takers, if you can call them that, are the folks taking the classes that range from an intense one-day session up to courses that run over eight weeks. You can take Embroidery 2.0, or choose one of 20 offered in Fashion, or 8 in Welding & Fabrication, or 20 in Woodworking, or 10 in Web Design, or 16 in Drawing, Painting & Illustration.

One category is called simply Bike = Love. offering Basic Bike Mechanics, Intermediate Bike Mechanics, and Badass Bike Lights. (“With the right components, you can build your very own bike light which outshines all the others. In this class, you will make your very own hi-power LED bike-light which runs off a 9v battery.”)

For 3rd Ward members, the pricing structure is an incentive to commit to the community for the long term. (Basic membership, $99 for a year; co-working, $149 a month, or $119 at the annual rate – for the longer stay, you get a lower rate). There are work stations as simple as library carrels, shared computer stations well equipped with big-screen Macs, conference areas, and even dedicated office spaces for micro businesses. My favorite presently on-site is Susty Parties, which sells colorful party goods made from sustainable materials, of course. (You can see why the business owners might like having this frou-frou stuff Out. Of. The. House. Please!)

Like wallflowers at the eighth-grade dance, dress dummies huddle against the wall between classes. The sewing room serves some other purposes, too.

The wood and metal makers’ professional spaces have recently been separated from the student spaces. To work in either area, you must pay the Pro rates ($599 a month, or $479 monthly at the annual rate) and demonstrate your skill level to a shop manager so that you are not a danger to the high-powered tools, to other workers or to yourself.

The metal shop includes a large work area with metal cutting and welding tools and shielded work stations. The even larger woodworking loft has materials-storage racks, table saw, lathe, drill press, mortising machine, an advanced dust-handling system, plus shop brooms and industrial size dustpans neatly stowed in plain sight. Separately vented yellow lockers stash potentially toxic and fume-producing wood finishing chemicals; a covered can that’s emptied every night takes care of oily rags.

Business training is available as well, both in structured classes and in informal, water-cooler consulting. Small-business bookkeeping. Using social media in marketing. Presentation skills for attracting investors.

Erica Eudoxie explains why she has taken so many courses herself: 13 and counting. “It’s not just the typical ADD skill set,” she says, laughing. “It’s the impulse to make something. I have it, and most people here do. It’s why they come.”

Have there been any big stars to brag about, any bold-face names who’ve passed through 3rd Ward on the way to success? “It depends on how you define success,” Erica says. “If it’s being able to quit your office job and make a living with your craft, then yes, definitely.

“And I’d say there are a lot here now who’re on the trajectory to success.”

Filed Under: Community, Craft/Design, Guilds/Fairs, Handmade, Innovation, Manufacturing, Method/Materials, The Business Side, Uncategorized Tagged With: 3rd Ward, artisanal, bike mechanics, Brooklyn, business development, dressmaking, hands-on instruction, Kings County, manufacturing, metal fabrication, Williamsburg, woodworking

Sipping Moonshine & Bourbon at The Kings County Distillery

October 8, 2012 by Anne Mollegen Smith 1 Comment

YOU GET A NICE DOSE OF HISTORY AND 3 SIPS OF WHISKY for your $8 on a typical Saturday afternoon between 2:30 and 5:30, in Building 121, the old Paymaster quarters at the Brooklyn Navy Yards. Brooklyn Artisan took the tour on Sunday, a special opening for the distillery’s participation in Open House New York.

The Boozeum displays a home-size copper distiller.

The Kings County Distillery bills itself as New York City’s oldest operating whisky distillery – founded in 2010 by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell, on a porch in Bushwick, and relocated last year to the Navy Yard in Williamsburg. In their new-but-old building (built at the turn of the last century), space is given to a modest wall display of photos. It features readably-large repro’s of historic documents and a lively old-newspaper account of a local battle in the “Whisky Wars” fought not long after the Civil War ended.

Triggering the Vinegar Hill riots, troops from the Naval Yard were sent into the “Irishtown” neighborhood to close down 13 illicit stills. Vast quantities of distillery waste water poured out into the streets. Twenty people were killed. (When a rum-maker’s vat in Boston burst, molasses in an eight-foot wave made a micro-tsunami in the narrow street. Imagine the sticky aftermath. And the flies. No business for sissies.)

The federal action on distilleries was not about temperance, it was about taxes; excise taxes, not taxes on income, had funded the Civil War. After the war, the feds wanted to shut down any stills that weren’t paying up. Only after income-based taxation was legislated early in the 20th century could the country afford Prohibition and the loss of revenue from “sin taxes” on booze.

The history display is called the Boozeum, and I’m glad to report that the same sense of humor about themselves and their “evolving” whisky-hist’ry show pervades the whole operation and spares it any whiff of pretentiousness. They take themselves lightly, but as a native Kentuckian, Colin Spoelman has maintained from the beginning that they are serious about their bourbon. His home state’s Nelson County is widely considered the beating heart of bourbon country. Last year, with the move to the bigger distillery, Colin gave up his day job with an architecture firm to grow the business. Now, that is being serious.

The Mash: Hot water liquifies the starch in corn, then enzymes from sprouting barley seed break down the starches. Bourbon mash is 70% corn, 30% barley.

A third partner, Nicole Austin (above), has joined the founders and now oversees operations. She studied chemical engineering in college, though not with this career in mind. “It was kind of like a lightbulb going off,” she says, “I thought, Hey, I bet I know how to make this.” In its early days in Bushwick, the distillery bottled up to 270 liters of corn and barley based whisky a month, less than one tenth of what they now can produce in the Paymaster building.

Nicole also conducted the Sunday tour we joined, discussing the progress of distilling from American corn and Scottish barley “mash,” through yeast-processing, batch-testing and tasting, and then aging in the proper new American-oak barrels that must be used if the spirits are to qualify as legitimate bourbon.

About two years ago New York State started defining “farm distillery “ or Class D licenses more broadly, Nicole explains, which means that small-batch producers legally can distill, bottle and wholesale spirits themselves. Apple producers and farmers lobbied heavily for the change in law. With no more required cut for separately licensed distributors, the economics as well as the legal climate have suddenly become much more attractive. The Kings County Distillery was fast out of the gate. Now, Austin says, there are a dozen licensed distillers in the city (not all of them up and going yet) and two dozen or more in the state. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Encore, Food/Drink, Innovation, The Business Side Tagged With: Brooklyn bourbon, Brooklyn distillery, Brooklyn Naval Yard, Colin Spoelman, farm distillery permits, Kings County Distillery, Moonshine, New York State disllery, small-batch production, Vinegar Hill, Whisky Wars, White Lightening, Williamsburg

Maker Faire Exploding (in the Good Sense)

October 3, 2012 by Anne Mollegen Smith 4 Comments

Faire Marketing Director Bridgette Vanderlaan just gave Brooklyn Artisan the official attendance count: An astonishing 55,000 people visited World Maker Faire/New York in Queens last weekend, a stunning 57% growth over last year. With 650 vendors this time, the vitality of the event is clear. See Brooklyn Artisan Contributor Bruce Campbell’s reports, Making Space for Makers in Brooklyn and Brooklyn Makes It…to Queens at World Maker Faire 2012. (Remember to come back – he has more good stuff to report.)

Also see Joanna Beltowska‘s report on the packed-auditorium talks by “Seth Godin, and Chris Anderson, both authors and entrepreneurs, the latter also editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and co-founder of robotic manufacturing company 3D Robotics,” she writes. “Anderson is accompanied by Bre Pettis , co-founder and CEO of MakerBot Industries; the two are giving a talk on how the Maker Movement, and 3-D printing in particular, might spark a new age of manufacturing in the US.” Provocative phrase of the day: “the democratization of creation.”

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Guilds/Fairs, Innovation, Manufacturing, Method/Materials, Outer Brooklyn, Uncategorized Tagged With: brooklyn artisan, Maker Faire

Making Space for Makers in Brooklyn

October 2, 2012 by Bruce Campbell Leave a Comment

THE MARRYING OF COMPUTERS (often just teeny little processors called Arduino s) with older technologies such as lathes and milling machines means an explosion of opportunities for artisans over the next few years, whether the maker is creating for themselves or selling services to other creators. Expect to see more and more automated machines of all sorts landing in the artisan’s workspace. But here in New York, the distribution of such space is uneven. Apartments are generally small, while nearly any making requires space. How do you start garage businesses when you don’t own a garage?

The decline of New York as an industrial city has led to the conversion of much of the old work space into high-end residences in the downtown cores (SoHo, Tribeca, Dumbo). The remaining loft space in those areas is generally pricey in response to uses and users with deeper pockets. Brooklyn still has acres of old industrial spaces, though, that seem ripe for conversion to a new industrial model.

The appearance of hackerspaces and makerspaces in some of those old industrial buildings is providing an opportunity for small makers to get access to tools and expertise as they create, innovate and develop new products or businesses. Several showed up at World Maker Faire 2012 this past weekend and all are open and eager to meet people looking to connect to a creating community. Stay tuned to Brooklyn Artisan in coming months as we cover this exciting new industrial/community model.

Justin of NYC Resistor brought a pile of electronic gear ideal for scavenging by itinerant robots.

NYC Resistor on 3rd Avenue at Bergen is one of the oldest hackerspaces (and the birthplace of Makerbot), represented at the Faire by an impressive pile of electronic parts threatening to become self-aware at any minute. Alpha One Labs in Greenpoint had a table but I was never quite able to catch up with their representative, Psytek (which I was assured by another hacker is not his given name). I’m looking to cover their space and efforts in future posts.

Gary Oshust, owner of Spark Workshop, started looking for studio space for his sculpture work, ended up as a part-time landlord for other makers and artists in Sunset Park

The arguably newest workspace in the borough (a mere two weeks old) is Spark Workshop in Sunset Park. Owner Gary Oshust, a sculptor looking for studio space, found himself taking on a lot of space that he is renting out to other makers along with access to power tools, photo studio and gallery space. (Warning: the Brooklyn Artisan editorial team may find themselves experiencing flashbacks of their own adventure with running shared workspaces in an ex-industrial loft not so long ago.)

One notable approach to activating tools, expertise and craft in Brooklyn that deserves mention is Fixers Collective, a group that gathers in Gowanus to repair broken things brought to them by others. As they say on their literature “If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it.”