Sponsored Content brought to you by: Asmbly Makerspace
Author: Valerie Wilmot, Executive Director at Asmbly Makerspace
Looking at Asmbly today, it’s hard to believe where it started. In the age of DIY, with artisan crafters on YouTube and TikTok, the desire to dabble in creative mediums is on the rise. Asmbly provides the space, resources and tools for adults to explore and create. We offer classes, six specialty shop areas and industrial-grade equipment.
Founded in 2019 as an educational nonprofit, Asmbly is proud to be a creative space featuring tools unattainable for home workshops and renovated facilities—with air conditioning!
Community Outreach
As a young nonprofit, it is important for us to do more with the Austin community. All of our classes are open to anyone who wishes to take them, whether they’re members or not. This past year, Asmbly has started giving field trip tours to students, showing them just what is possible to create in a makerspace. We have started collaborating with YouTubers like Breva Creative to host classes beyond our shop’s typical offerings, such as stained glass. We’ve also begun collaborating with a variety of organizations including Austin Eastciders.
Through these collaborations, we aim to highlight individual services offered to a broader audience and bring an element of fun to community events. We are looking forward to hosting more events to uplift the work of Asmbly makers with gallery nights and markets. Our aim is to share and inspire creativity in Austin.
If you’re interested in partnering with us to serve the Austin creative community, email us at outreach@asmbly.org.
Expanding Access
As our community expands, we are breaking down barriers to access, allowing a broader range of people to use Asmbly’s facilities in their creative work. Everyone has creative potential, and with so many outlets to choose from under one roof—woodworking, metalworking, laser cutting, electronics, 3D printing and textiles—there is something for everyone at Asmbly. Access to our great tools and shops should not be limited due to economic disparities. In 2023, we will start scholarship funds aimed to address these financial restrictions.
We’ve started conversations with other organizations in Austin that are already doing great work. Included among these is The Settlement Home for Children, whose Transitional Living Program provides dwellings and services to young women in extended foster care. With your help, we are excited to establish programs allowing the young adults they serve to learn and practice new skills at Asmbly.
If you are interested in helping to empower others to explore and learn creatively, please reach out to us at donors@asmbly.org
Diversifying Membership
We believe that the membership of Asmbly should reflect the diversity of our community. As we grow our membership, we are putting particular focus on reaching more women and people of color. We are shifting the historical narrative and preconceived notions of what a woodworker or metalworker looks like. Asmbly is for everyone, and whether it’s through the events we put on with other organizations or scholarship funds for underserved groups, we are committed to this endeavor.
Join us
Come flex your creative muscles with us as a student in a class or as a member of our community! Brush up on existing skills or learn something new; we have shops for woodworking, lasers, metalworking, 3D printing, textiles and electronics. Find out more about Asmbly and what membership is all about on our website asmbly.org.
Hope to see you in the shop soon bringing your ideas to life!