MAKE-IT SPRINGFIELD SUPPORTS THE CREATIVE NEEDS OF A DIVERSE SPRINGFIELD COMMUNITY.
Its dynamic, eclectic learning environment invites people of any background or skill level to explore and create, while promoting inclusion and collaboration in all forms of culture, art, and technology.
Make-It Springfield provides space, tools, and vision, especially for low- and moderate-income individuals and families, to explore and work on creative projects. Make-It Springfield provides a multicultural home that invites creativity, invention, and artistic experimentation through dialogue, collaboration, and the sharing of skills and ideas.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
In the fall of 2015, the Executive Director and graduate students from the UMass Design Center in downtown Springfield teamed up with the Transformative Development Fellow from MassDevelopment who was helping to revitalize downtown Springfield. Their goal was to create a one-month pop-up makerspace in a vacant storefront in downtown Springfield.
In that one month, volunteers hosted over 40 workshops in technology, art, engineering, bicycle repair, cooking and sewing, and more than 450 community members of all ages and backgrounds participated. With this community support, and a lot of enthusiasm, our founders stretched the initial seed funding to remain open for several more months. Soon, DevelopSpringfield, the Business Improvement District, and Silverbrick Lofts signed on to help us rent a vacant storefront at 168 Worthington Street. With all the basics in place, our doors officially opened on June 1st, 2016.
On January 1st, 2023, after years of planning and renovation, Make-It Springfield moved to it’s current location at 286 Bridge Street. Today, Make-It is a growing and thriving organization that serves the creative needs of a diverse Springfield community.