As a budding artist designing clothing and handmade leather goods, Alicia Renner (image shown above) found a sense of community at a shared artist workspace, Poet House, which once existed in downtown Bend. “The energy of being in a space like that is so motivating,” said Renner, who a few years later found the same sense of place at The Workhouse, a collective of artist studios that popped up in the early 2010s in Bend’s Old Ironworks Arts District. There, Renner rented a studio space which included use of The Workhouse’s retail area. It allowed her to test out new products and interact with customers to gather feedback on designs for her new business, Howl Goods, said Renner, who continued to live in Bend and operate her small business.
Renner is one of a growing number of creatives who are using collective workspaces for artists, maker spaces and shared workshops. These spaces are like incubators for their businesses, where they tinker on new projects, swap ideas with fellow creators, and, in many cases, use the spaces to meet their first customers. In addition, spaces including The Workhouse and DIYcave in Bend are also businesses themselves, renting studio spaces or offering classes or memberships to operate, while also generating a small income for owners.
Building the Dream at The Workhouse
For Cari Brown, the idea for The Workhouse came about unconventionally after the historic building on southeast Scott Street opened up for lease in 2011. Brown was working next door at a since-closed art shop, and was hopeful the vacant space would attract an artsy neighbor.
“The space became available abruptly, and we [with co-owner and husband Christian] really hoped it would be something interesting and bring more foot traffic to the area,” Brown said. “Then we thought, ‘Hey, we could do something cool.’”
The first iteration of The Workhouse was sixteen studio spaces for working artists to rent out, with opportunities to mingle with other artists. Before long, the space was reconfigured to have fewer studios, but to include a large communal table to work at or host classes, and space to sell goods created by the resident artists and others in Oregon. Creatives pay a fee for their studio space, and together the rent money covers the cost of operating The Workhouse.
On the retail side, artists pay a small commission for work sold at The Workhouse, allowing the Browns and her co-owner and husband, Christian Brown, to earn a small profit. Just as The Workhouse was finding its groove, another creative workspace was being conceived just a mile down the road. The DIYcave is the brainchild of a group of Bendites who came together with the idea of creating the city’s first maker space in late 2014.
Building the Dream at the DIYcave
Aaron Leis and his wife Charah Leis had leased a space on southwest Ninth Street with plans to open a workshop called Maker Station. Through word-of-mouth, they connected with Tim Willis and Dave Danek, who were brewing up a similar business idea, and had another name in mind—DIYcave—and the group joined forces as business partners. The first building of the DIYcave opened to curious passersby later that year, and officially opened to the public in early 2015, with the group slowly adding new buildings and expanding the creative offerings of the space over the next eight years.
Today, the DIYcave is operated by Aaron Leis and Willis, and is home to spaces equipped with tools for woodworking, welding, blacksmithing, laser cutting, 3D printing, glass projects, jewelry making and other creative explorations.
Even on a weeknight, the DIYcave campus will be abuzz. You might see a couple of female woodworkers operating saws and a family working together on a live-edge table with an epoxy river down the middle. You might also see an open session for jewelry makers and a builder working on the finishes for a tiny home, parked outside the woodshop. At the same time.
“It’s very inspirational to walk through here,” said Leis. The goal of the DIYcave was to create a space that felt accessible and welcoming to anyone, from a college student to a single parent. “We wanted there to be no barrier to entry.” Interested do-it-yourselfers can join the DIYcave community by signing up for a class or paying an hourly rate for shop time to work on a project independently. Frequent users pay for memberships and some artists and builders rent out studio spaces, where they can store supplies and projects.
While the DIYcave owners themselves are operating the business, Leis also acknowledges the role the space plays in launching the businesses of others. This is true for a glassworker who rents out studio space to an artist who went from experimenting on the laser cutter one day to launching a company to sell topographic trail maps the next. Leis estimated about seventy percent of DIYcave users are creating items for themselves. Thirty percent are working on projects with monetary motivations.
Work Space for All
Bend’s artistic workspaces are tied together by what they offer the public—a place to connect with other creatives, room to experiment and the opportunity to pursue a new hobby or career. For jewelry artist Marianne Prodehl, joining The Workhouse gave her the opportunity to pursue jewelry-making more seriously and consistently, without the overhead cost of operating her own shop.
“From a business aspect, joining The Workhouse made my business grow like crazy,” said Prodehl, who staffs The Workhouse retail shop at least twice per month—a requirement for studio members. While her company, Junk to Jems has never been Prodehl’s full-time vocation, she said The Workhouse has played an important role in her company’s success. “It really helped me develop my following,” she said.
For clothing and leather-goods artisan Renner, who operates Howl Goods, the impact collective workspaces had on her professional trajectory can’t be understated. After being a studio member at The Workhouse, Renner has gone on to operate her own artist workspace and retail shop next door, called Mud Lake Studios. Here, she runs a shop selling her own products, as well as goods from dozens of ceramists who rent out artist workspaces. Renner said the goal of Mud Lake Studios is to show aspiring artists what’s possible if they decide to dive into a creative hobby or business.
“We provide all the equipment and tools you need, and you can choose to do what you want with that,” Renner said. “Artists can really see what is a viable future business option for them. Or they can experiment—try new designs and see if anyone likes them. Sometimes people are surprised to find out what sells.”
