Spring 2017 Update

A lot of you have asked how the plans are coming along – how much closer we are to our stated mission: To enrich our community by providing a workspace and materials exchange where new and experienced makers can learn, collaborate, offer workshops, and spark new business opportunities.

While we are still striving to find a physical space to call our own – more on that later - you can find us collaborating with makers in many parts of the community.

We are delighted to have been awarded a Community Arts Grant from the Orange County Arts Council to support our 2nd Annual Treecycle on April 29th & 30th, a community-wide art project. We have seven artists and nine local groups who will facilitate the creation of this year’s trees from upcycled material. The trees will be displayed at multiple venues around town and will be included in the Warwick Summer Arts Festival parade and as part of Dusklit.

Our first Maker’s Market at Thanksgiving successfully provided a venue for local makers to not only sell their wares, but also connect with others to share resources and ideas. As a result of this a small market is now happening on the 2nd Sunday of each month at Janice Brigante Studio at 4 West Street in Warwick with a varying roster of vendors. The next Wickham Works Spring Maker’s Market will be held on April 29th and 30th at Wickham Woodlands Manor. And we continue to identify other market opportunities and provide information on them to local makers.

We’ve been playing to our strengths, supporting other grassroots organizations and building community partnerships, offering creative ideas, hands-on making, demonstrations, entertainment, and shared materials. In addition to the many local makers, here are a some of the organizations and groups that we are currently partnering with:  the Warwick Valley Community Center, the Historical Society, the Albert Wisner Public Library, office of the Mayor and their Sesquicentennial committee, the Summer Arts Festival, Sanfordville Elementary PIE program and Green Team, student volunteers at the Warwick high school, the Board of Education Community Partnership Program, Sustainable Warwick, Family Central, the Green Onion, Milkweed, and the Orange County Arts Council.

The new season of Doc:Fry Music + Making Sessions has started at the Warwick Valley Community Center. We now have six band promoters booking shows for us with a combination of local and touring bands. We continue to encourage new makers to get involved with screen printing and button making during the shows, and designing and building sets for each month’s theme. We’re currently working on partnering with the WVCC to establish a year-round School of Rock aimed at middle and high school students.

Wickham Works is moving ahead with actively looking for space to rent in order to start implementing our business plan. This will include a shared workspace that acts as an incubator for small artisan businesses by providing a comprehensive network of support. This will be in the form of business skill workshops designed to foster growth and result in increased income, and shared tools, resources, and materials. In the near future we will be putting out a call for makers who wish to participate in this exciting opportunity.
As always, we welcome anyone who wishes to become actively involved. Please sign up for our mailing list, and send us a message!
Happy making!