We recently took a trip to The Bodgery, a community makerspace with a simple mission of getting more people involved in making things together. It’d be quicker to tell you what you can’t do at The Bodgery than what you can do, but I’ll try my best.
Options at a glance:
The large community workshop is located at 740 Oscar Ave. — where the Oscar Meyer plant once was. The large space offers storage, tools, and resources for the following crafts:
- Woodshop
- CNC machines
- Crafting
- Glasswork
- Jewelry
- Electronics
- 3D printing
- Metal shop
- Machining
- Screen printing
- Leatherworking
- Ceramics
Membership
This nonprofit runs on memberships, monetarily and organizationally. For $50/month, members have 24/7 access to the space. While guests are welcome, there are some tools and resources that are only available to members — Drum sander, laser cutters/engravers, 3D printers, blacksmithing forges, screen printing tools, and oscilloscopes... to name a few.
Another membership perk is voting rights. With 500 members, 21,500 sqft, and no staff or cleaning service, a little bit of democracy is necessary to keep The Bodgery running smoothly.
A Board of Directors is appointed by members during an annual meeting. This board then votes for Area Captains who are put in leadership roles to oversee the many subdivisions within the makerspace. Furthermore, a good ol’ fashioned chore chart keeps day-to-day housekeeping tasks in check.
Get involved
Throughout the year, the number of Bodgery members fluctuates. An increase in members can be expected around the first and last months of the year, which can cause a membership freeze until spots start to open up again.
We suggest keeping tabs on their Instagram and/or website to be the first to know when memberships become available.
