skillshare – Page 2 – brooklyn spaces

3rd ward

oriana on 16 Feb ’11

neighborhood: east williamsburg | space type: skillshare | active since: 2005 | links: website, facebook, twitter

Update October 2013: The story is still coming to light, but as of October 9th, 3rd Ward is closed, with the owner having absconded seemingly in the middle of the night with no warning, leaving members, teachers, and small businesses that run out of the space completely in the lurch. The story was broken by the New York Observer here, and there has been an outpouring of frustrated rage since then.

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3rd Ward is kind of a no-brainer, since it’s a wildly popular, well-publicized space, but as a pioneering skillshare, community, and event space, they definitely warrant covering here. And it’s an incredible place, with so much to offer. There’s no interview in this post, but please click through to learn all about this fabulous space!

3rd Ward is primarily a skillshare, and while membership isn’t cheap, it comes with great perks (a free bike!) and access to a whole host of facilities. (Non-members can also access many of the offerings, but it costs more.)

Their facilities include massive metal shop, a wood shop, a jewelry studio, and a textile studio. They’ve also got a bicycle shop that is available for drop-ins, a cavernous gallery space with rotating exhibits, and several studios for events. Plus they offer a vast array of classes, in everything from digital media to welding to pottery.

They also do tons of events, including myriad gallery shows, live drawing events, music performances, presentations, crazy parties, craft fairs, fundraisers, festivals, and so much more.

It’s a terrific gathering place, and has something awesome happening basically all the time.

Also check out this great interview (not done by me) with 3rd Ward’s co-founder.

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Like this? Read about other skillshares: Pioneer Works, Time’s Up, Urbanglass, Brooklyn Brainery, Arch P&D, Bushwick Print Lab, Gowanus Print Lab, Ger-Nis, Exapno

time’s up

oriana on 31 Jan ’11

neighborhood: williamsburg | space type: community space, skillshare | active since: 1987 | links: website, wikipedia, facebook, twitter

Time’s Up is an all-volunteer, nonprofit environmental advocacy group. They do about 200 themed group bike rides a year, dozens of campaigns, and close to 300 workshops annually. They have been hugely instrumental in increasing bike-riding all over New York City (including helping to start the pedicab industry), and have done great work with community gardens, greenways, reclaiming public space, animal advocacy, deforestation, fracking, and more. They’ve been written about everywhere, from the New York Times to the Indypendent, from the Brooklyn Paper to the L Magazine.

all photos by Maximus Comissar

I took my sister with me to this interview, and, embarrassingly, we didn’t bike. (In our defense, it was snowing like crazy.) But everyone was kind andwelcoming anyway, and we took a tour of the incredible space, and also got to talk to Bill, Time’s Up’s founder, and Steve, a longtime volunteer.

These days, Time’s Up is most known for its focus on biking. According to Steve, “Time’s Up is an environmental group, and biking is very environmentally sound. The mission of the group is to increase cycling to help the environment.” Among a slew of other campaigns, they participate in the mass bike movement Critical Mass, work for auto-free streets and parks, create and maintain ghost bike memorials, offer legal aid for arrested cyclists, and recently began a “Love Your Lane” campaign, designed to make cyclists feel rewarded for bicycling, rather than persecuted or harassed. Their latest action has been to build pedal-powered generators for the ongoing #OccupyWallStreet movement.

To donate to this or any of their amazing work, click the “donate” button on any page of their site. But first, check out my Q&A with Bill, Time’s Up’s founder!