Mothers’ Earth Day Recap
Between Earth Day and Mother’s Day we were delighted to hear from sixteen mom’s in our network, near and far. Thank you for making time in your lives to share your experience with HatchSpace, and some great ideas on how we can be more inclusive and responsive to moms. Here’ what we learned, in FAQ fashion, where we attempt to also offer some insight into how we work.
I was just saying to my daughter the other day that I wish I had taken more "shop" classes in high school. I was intimidated by the idea of taking them because it's traditionally a "guy" thing, but now I wish I knew basic things about tools, carpentry, repairing things, making things, etc!! I'd love to take a class that's like a "basic shop class for all the folks who wished they felt competent in this subject "!!!
Unfortunately, you are not alone on this one, we hear that a lot! That’s one reason we’re excited to offer our Rosie’s Girls camp this summer. We also teach regular introductory courses, some just for women who appreciate a bias-free and supportive environment. And we love the “repair things” idea. We’ll start working on that!
I'm excited to take a woodworking class for women and signed up for one but am not sure I'll be able to do it as the timing is tricky for me. Would love a daytime class option (during school hours would be awesome) in the fall! I haven't been in the space yet, so really can't speak to how to make it more nurturing or exciting. I'll surely have opinions once I get started though, and appreciate your asking! :)
Daytime classes make a lot of sense. Our introductory womens’ woodworking course where you’ll learn to make a hardwood coffee table is a great example. We’ll definitely try and get more scheduled. Pro tip: any retired woodworkers who don’t have day jobs are welcome; this will definitely expand our capacity! Reach out to education@hatchspace.orgThis is a great place - for the community and for the people...please keep doing what you're doing!
Thank you!Are there more affordable classes?
Its a great point, and essential to our access and inclusion goals. We try our best to pay our teachers well for their time, pay our overhead costs (staff, equipment, consumables, rent) while keeping classes affordable. Our rates generally are lower than most woodworking courses, and we know we can always do better. One thing we offer anyone who asks are 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent scholarships. Please use them!Community classes that could be reduced price or donation based. Or woodworking that could include parents and children.
All course fees can be reduced through a scholarship, no questions asked. And we love this idea about community woodworking, and parent-child classes. We’ll experiments by offering a few this summer and see what we learn. Thanks for the idea!Evening classes . More classes on sharpening tools. More simple furniture classes.
Great, we’ll look at expanding what we can do in this area, thank you for the feedback.I’d love weekly or monthly open drop-in studio time for learning how to safely operate equipment/tools with knowledgeable folks on hand to assist. Maybe this ahead exists and I’m missing it?!?
Monthly drop in time is a great idea. Typically one needs to be a member, but it sounds like this proposal is for non-members to gain some access time. Let’s try it - we’ll pick a weekend date to start and see what we learn. Thank you for this idea!I'd enjoy low-bar events, like mixers where we can look at cool woodworking projects or wood art, or even a lecture or artist talk. For classes, I'd be excited to learn about making built-ins, restoring thrift store furniture, and getting design consults on brilliant ideas (such as modular bookshelves that can double as packing boxes so you never have to pack your books again).
Great idea about the stacking crates/bookshelves; sounds like a great class! And yes to the low bar events; we’re hearing that “drop-in” sessions are a popular idea and we’ll try and create a few to test with over the summer.I am a mother (of 4) a grandmother (of 1) and a caregiver to four toddlers in my day job. In my past life I was a woodworker but that was a long time ago! I’d love to reacquaint myself with working with hand tools. It would be great if you offered a workshop making simple toys, over a few Saturday mornings perhaps. Thanks!
We’d love to help you get reacquainted with woodworking tools. We’ll work to put a toy-making workshop on the calendar - just for you, but we’re betting it’ll be popular too!Recently moved and am living 100% off grid. I am really interested in making a hand cranked desk - one that can be used as a standing desk or cranked down to make a table. I'd like it to be on wheels. I've been researching them and can't find one to buy that I like (non-toxic materials, non-electric, etc). Does HatchSpace offer mentorships or could there be a class in the future on this?
HatchSpace is a great place to connect with other woodworkers who love to collaborate on cool and interesting problems - which sounds like your desk! We also offer private instruction to help get you started. And we’ll look for an instructor who’d be interested in this - its a great hardware challenge!I’d be curious about making whimsically whittled wonders for my garden wall. Adorable hedgehogs, Vermonty mushrooms, and anything that celebrated imperfections…
Whimsical whittling, what a great idea! We’re going to see whether we’ve got some internal enthusiasm and/or try and recruit. How does whimsical whittling Wednesdays sound?!I would love a class on making a hanging address plaque - building the post and plaque and routing out the numbers/letters and border!
This we can do - sounds like an introduction to CNC sign-making is in order! We’ll try and recruit an instructor for this and get back to you ASAP!There are so many great courses. I wish I could afford them all! If I had to pick one thing to be the most helpful for my learning it would be to have a second beginner women’s woodworking start fairly quickly after the first finishes. It would help me build on newly acquired skills before they get lost.
Many have said, “Timing is everything” - and we agree! We will try and get this pairing tied together more seamlessly. Its hard to dive deep, and then have to stop; no one wants the learning and instincts to slip away!I'd love to see more kids programming for 8-12-year-olds, and more couples courses.
Great idea, we’re going to brainstorm internally and see what we can come up with. We’ll learn a lot from our Rosie’s Girls camps, and look forward to identifying projects families would like to accomplish together. Thank you!Beginner woodworking, bowl turning. Less expensive classes, maybe scholarships. Which you may have all of already!
Yes to all of the above. We never asks questions to anyone seeking a little help - its essential to meet our access and inclusion goals. And yes to more bowl turning, we’ll work on that!I’d love to learn how to refinish small pieces of furniture.
We’ve heard this enough times that its time to act! We’ll start recruiting some furniture repair enthusiasts and get started with some experiments this summer. Thank you!