Our Makerspace & Community Center
Donation protected
The Overlook will be an independent makerspace dedicated to community, art, and sustainability in southern Indiana.
We need your help to start today!
We are a collective of artists, inventors, non-profits, community organizers, and makers thriving in Bloomington, Indiana.
We’re here to raise funds to create a permanent artspace and makerspace for southern Indiana.
In the spirit of reduce-reuse-recycle, we have plans to renovate an old factory! Our renewed factory will be the site for collaboration among the industrious, caring, and resourceful people of southern Indiana, and provide tangible proof that Indiana is home to change.
The Overlook’s mission is to offer all residents of southern Indiana the opportunity to learn STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) skills, learn and experiment with artistic practices and techniques, and offer a hub for promoting an environmentally-conscientious and multicultural community.
We are committed to the “Maker” education style, which is project-based and focuses on confidence-building. As we learn challenging concepts and develop skills together, we strengthen our ability to effect positive change in the world around us.
We are entering an unprecedented period of political uncertainty and backlash. We seek improve our level of organization and our material capacity to support all members of our community regardless of race, religion, national origin, migration status, ability, income, financial stability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or education level.
We look forward to collaborating with exisiting makerspaces, studios, and other community endeavors in Bloomington and the midwest, and hope to foster a flow between spaces so that many different needs are met.
All people have unique talent and different ways of thinking and visualizing solutions from others. The Overlook will be a way to weave our talents and innovate as a community.
We plan to host and foster the hands-on creative energy that Indiana has to offer by way of:
· arts skill shares,
· workspace for at least two non-profits,
· collaboration with nearby community gardens and permaculture projects,
· support groups,
· artist studios, and
· community meeting space.
As the economic and political landscape of Indiana continues to change, it is vital to secure permanent spaces for radical organizing, learning, cooperation, gardening, public events, non-profit efforts, and open discussions.
Many community center buildings that are rented rather than owned. We would like to own a space that is accessible to the community and sustainable over time. Without the stress of rents hikes, we would be better positioned to increase mission-driven programming over time and maximize resources to the community.
Many community centers are affiliated with the university or otherwise limit programming based on age or college enrollment. The Overlook will be accessible to all residents of southern Indiana.
Many community centers have faced pressure to curtail political expression. Recently, a community art gallery in Bloomington was forced to close, when the landlord disagreed with exhibited artists’ statements in support of Black Lives Matter and concerns about police brutality against the local homeless population. Other rented co-workspaces and community centers are suffering under similar pressures.
Bloomington is a regional commercial hub. The city provides access to welfare and other services to residents throughout southern Indiana. We will build on this momentuum as another resource for learning and innovation.
However, with mounting gentrification, it will be more difficult to open a space with a central location accessible to residents regardless of income. We fear that a condo or tech developer will take over the old cabinet factory before we can finalize it for the Overlook.
We encourage other people involved in art, science, technology, and community organizing to reach out to us, as we are excited to collaborate and grow with many people and organizations.
We need your help to start today!
We are a collective of artists, inventors, non-profits, community organizers, and makers thriving in Bloomington, Indiana.
We’re here to raise funds to create a permanent artspace and makerspace for southern Indiana.
In the spirit of reduce-reuse-recycle, we have plans to renovate an old factory! Our renewed factory will be the site for collaboration among the industrious, caring, and resourceful people of southern Indiana, and provide tangible proof that Indiana is home to change.
The Overlook’s mission is to offer all residents of southern Indiana the opportunity to learn STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) skills, learn and experiment with artistic practices and techniques, and offer a hub for promoting an environmentally-conscientious and multicultural community.
We are committed to the “Maker” education style, which is project-based and focuses on confidence-building. As we learn challenging concepts and develop skills together, we strengthen our ability to effect positive change in the world around us.
We are entering an unprecedented period of political uncertainty and backlash. We seek improve our level of organization and our material capacity to support all members of our community regardless of race, religion, national origin, migration status, ability, income, financial stability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or education level.
We look forward to collaborating with exisiting makerspaces, studios, and other community endeavors in Bloomington and the midwest, and hope to foster a flow between spaces so that many different needs are met.
All people have unique talent and different ways of thinking and visualizing solutions from others. The Overlook will be a way to weave our talents and innovate as a community.
We plan to host and foster the hands-on creative energy that Indiana has to offer by way of:
· arts skill shares,
· workspace for at least two non-profits,
· collaboration with nearby community gardens and permaculture projects,
· support groups,
· artist studios, and
· community meeting space.
As the economic and political landscape of Indiana continues to change, it is vital to secure permanent spaces for radical organizing, learning, cooperation, gardening, public events, non-profit efforts, and open discussions.
Many community center buildings that are rented rather than owned. We would like to own a space that is accessible to the community and sustainable over time. Without the stress of rents hikes, we would be better positioned to increase mission-driven programming over time and maximize resources to the community.
Many community centers are affiliated with the university or otherwise limit programming based on age or college enrollment. The Overlook will be accessible to all residents of southern Indiana.
Many community centers have faced pressure to curtail political expression. Recently, a community art gallery in Bloomington was forced to close, when the landlord disagreed with exhibited artists’ statements in support of Black Lives Matter and concerns about police brutality against the local homeless population. Other rented co-workspaces and community centers are suffering under similar pressures.
Bloomington is a regional commercial hub. The city provides access to welfare and other services to residents throughout southern Indiana. We will build on this momentuum as another resource for learning and innovation.
However, with mounting gentrification, it will be more difficult to open a space with a central location accessible to residents regardless of income. We fear that a condo or tech developer will take over the old cabinet factory before we can finalize it for the Overlook.
We encourage other people involved in art, science, technology, and community organizing to reach out to us, as we are excited to collaborate and grow with many people and organizations.
Organizer
Mia Beach
Organizer
Bloomington, IN
