DIY City Mag

By: DIY City

Feb 14 2008

tags: art, artist, creative, designers, diy, DIY Studio, nyc, resources

Category: Map it Out

3rdwardbrooklyn.org

3rd Ward in Brooklyn is a facility for creative professionals. DIY City had a chance to check out 3rd Ward’s facilities during the Handmade Holiday Craft Fair and Open House that they sponsored along with Etsy.

The craft fair was held in the gallery space. The space is open and airy, setting the stage for the cross-disciplinary work that founders Jason Goodman and Jeremy Lovitt envisioned would occur when they first dreamed of the idea in 2004. “Community is definitely at the heart of 3rd Ward,” says Goodman. After moving to Brooklyn in 2004, they set up a shared studio space for local artists. But because their work was cross-disciplinary it was a natural next step to start sharing resources. The business partners thought that by sharing space and equipment they could “establish an affordable way to create art”.

The 20,000 sq ft. facility offers a gallery, photo studio, wood shop, metal shop, music recording studio, digital media lab, and large shared office space. 3rd Ward also offers private office spaces. 3rd Ward doesn’t currently offer tools for such crafts as jewelry metalsmithing, but does rent out desk space so jewelers can set up a office, where they can run their businesses and make jewelry at their desks.

3rd Ward had a vision as it built its facilities. Now that the facilities are up and running, it seems that 3rd Ward has become more than just a facility for artists in the community. Not only can artists work, play, and create, but also they have access to affordable health insurance. This collaboration has allowed for sharing not only facilities, but also ideas and solutions to problems.

3rd Ward targets independent creative professionals. What is probably unique about their business model is that they aim to bring artists the benefits of working for a company. They offer their members such benefits as high-end facilities, access to health insurance, and educational opportunities set in the midst of a creative environment. Toss that in with 3rd Ward’s sense of community and at little cost and with out a boss you may well have a model that may set the tone for today’s rising creative class.

The concept for 3rd Ward, created by a pair of artists for artists, is reflective of similar models in today’s creative cultures. Etsy (etsy.com), a two-year old Brooklyn-based company, offers similar community features for the indie and DIY community at Etsy Labs. It has a studio with sewing machines, metalworking supplies, silk screening, computers and a mailing station. You will also find a kitchen and lounge that is used for various DIY events such as Etsy’s trunk shows. Etsy is known world-wide for its online store where members buy and sell handmade goods. Etsy Labs is a model that Etsy plans to bring to other cities in the future.

Brooklyn isn’t the only city to benefit from such models. San Francisco’s Techshop (techshop.ws) offers members a similar open-access workshop and creative environment with monthly and/or yearly memberships. Techshop’s focus is slightly different, but both Techshop and 3rd Ward seem to be havens for creatives and modern do-it-yourselfers (DIYs). Techshop has plans to expand this summer into nine cities including Seattle, Portland, Austin, Orlando, and Durham as well several others in California. The model of a member-supported artist community could work for other communities such as New Orleans. Many of the artists living and working there feel that creatives will be pivotal in the city making its comeback.

3rd Ward has a variety of membership offers. They offer unlimited free classes for those signing up as an “I heart Brooklyn” member. This membership includes all of the regular membership benefits, but allows unlimited access to the Photography Studio and Wood and Metal Shops at one flat rate. They also still offer a Trial Membership at $60 per month and a Yearly Membership at $30 month.

“Along with offering tools and space 3rd Ward is home to an ever-growing continuing art education program. The classes cover everything from web design and furniture building to circuit bending and screen printing and are taught by a unique set of professors. Also in the coming months we’ll be collaborating with Harvest Works and LEMUR to provide new classes in multi-disciplinary media arts.” - Mike Rugnetta, Education Coordinator.