Artisans Asylum
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Artisans Asylum[1] is a non-profit community workshop in Allston, Massachusetts.[2] Artisans Asylum was founded in 2010 by an engineer, an artist, and friends. Artisans was the first makerspace to incorporate in the U.S. in 2012. Today, it holds 52,000 square feet of fabrication space between two buildings.
Artisans Asylum hosts approximately 600 monthly active members, 160 studios, and 15 workshops. Shops include woodworking, welding, bicycle maintenance and repair, machining, electronics and robotics, jewelry, digital fabrication, a digital photo studio, fiber arts, casting, laser cutting, CNC machines, prop shop, and design lab. The Asylum hosts 30-40 public classes each month, providing hands-on tool training and skill-building courses.[3] As of 2013, the Asylum housed 40 or 50 small manufacturing companies, and raised the number of manufacturing firms in nearby Somerville by 50%. The Asylum is credited with attracting the incubator Greentown Labs to Somerville and contributing to the city's creative economy.[4]
In 2023, it generated $1.4 million dollars in revenue and $2.25 million in expenses. [5]
Location in Allston
[edit]In January of 2023, Artisans relocated from 10 Tyler St. in Somerville to two buildings in Allston, a neighborhood of Boston. This move resulted in a 10,000 square foot expansion of the space. [6][7]
96 Holton St.
[edit]96 Holton St, referred to as "Holton", is the primary address for Artisans Asylum. It contains the front desk and mail center. All public-facing events, including classes, occur at or require check-in at this address. This building houses several communal workshops, including those dedicated fiber arts, electronics and robotics, jewelry-making, digital fabrication, screen printing, and metal casting. [8]
55 Antwerp St.
[edit]Referred to as "Antwerp", this building contains a metal shop, machine shop, and wood shop. [9] SCUL, a bicycle-based "chopper gang", is based in this building as well. [10]
Organizational Structure
[edit]Members at Artisans Asylum have 24/7 access to the space via key fobs distributed at new member orientations. The space is largely member-run, and it relies on volunteers to clean and maintain shops and common areas. The front desk is run by a fleet of volunteers termed "Deskies". Tool testers, who ensure that new users can safely operate machinery, are also volunteers.
Artisans Asylum has three full-time staff who manage development, facilities, and educational programs.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Artisans Asylum". Artisans Asylum. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ "About Us". artisansasylum.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
- ^ Flaherty, Joseph (August 9, 2012). "Building Stompy the Giant Robot Inside the World's Biggest Hackerspace". Wired. Condé Nast.
- ^ Pierce, Kathleen (February 21, 2013). "In Somerville and Lowell, do-it-yourselfers making it work". The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners.
- ^ Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon (2013-05-09). "Artisans Asylum Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ LAUCHAROEN, SHIRA (2022-01-11). "MEMBERS QUESTION ARTISAN'S ASYLUM RELOCATION FROM SOMERVILLE". Dig Bos. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ Hues, Chris (2021-12-10). "Somernova leases old Artisan's Asylum space, replacing makers' hopes with Engine of MIT". Cambridge Day. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ "Shops". Artisans Asylum. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ gazetteterrymurphy (2021-01-14). "Artisan's Asylum moving to Allston-Brighton". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ "SCUL - We Make Spaceships out of Bicycles". scul.org. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ "Meet the Team". Artisans Asylum. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
