Donate to our new community makerspace

This is a huge project for Talent Maker City, and we need your support to Make It SO!

Talent Maker City's makerspace is a bustling community space filled with creative, hands-on learning and STEAM-based education. We provide three main services:

1) education programming, including serving historically underserved or marginalized youth

2) creative community workshops and

3) local business and nonprofit support

In 2022, Talent Maker City received $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to build a permanent community makerspace in Talent—with one big condition: the funds had to be spent, and the building had to be complete by summer 2024.

With just four full-time staff and rising post-fire construction costs, many would have walked away. But not us.

We rolled up our sleeves and did what few thought possible: designing, permitting, fundraising, and building—all at the same time. The result is a vibrant, accessible $4.4 million community space full of creativity, learning, and connection.

But there’s one last piece, we still need your help to raise $1.1 million to complete the project.

This isn’t your typical capital campaign, but our journey has been anything but typical. From the pandemic to the fire, we’ve faced every obstacle with innovation, resilience, and deep community care.

Your support is crucial to support the creative, innovative future of Talent Maker City.

Every gift brings us closer to securing a future filled with hands-on learning, workforce development, and lifelong inspiration. Our children—and the creative community they’re growing up in—are counting on us to come together, just as we have time and time again.

Let’s finish this, together!

Donor Acknowledgment

Donors will be acknowledged in an interactive art installation in the lobby of the new building by donor tier.

Donate by check

• Talent Maker City P.O. Box 164 Talent, OR 97540

Click here to donate to our education programs, events, or workshops.

Other creative ways to support us

• Supplies wish list
• Bequests and Planned Gifts
• Stocks and Securities
• IRA Qualified Contributions
• Employer matching

For pledges or questions reach Nina Gerona, Development Coordinator, nina@talentmakercity.org (541) 897-4477

With the generous support of Representative Pam Marsh, we received a $1.8 million grant from the Federal American Rescue Plan Act to continue and expand our community resilience efforts. This was a direct response to our involvement in the emergency response to the COVID pandemic and Almeda fire response.

Building and Construction

We are working with Arkitek Design and Architecture and Outlier Construction to complete the new building. After an intensive search, we selected these organizations due to their strong local reputations for completing projects on time and on budget. They have also committed to meeting many of our values such as centering diversity and inclusion within their staff and subcontractor hiring as well as a dedication to sustainability throughout the building process.

Makersapce Features

We are working with Arkitek and Outlier to create a building with many unique and exciting features.

Our building will be SO innovative, so we're ready for the future with:

• Intentionally exposed mechanical systems to spark curiosity
  
• Virtual reality (VR) scanning to view the construction framing behind closed walls
• Floors stamped with construction equations to demonstrate real-world math applications
• Cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser engravers, water jet cutters, and CNC machines

Our building will be SO inclusive, so our communities thrive. TMC provides:

• Education and career pathways
• Economic and workforce development
• A fully equipped makerspace as a community resource
• Trauma-informed instruction with a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion
• A database of local makers with different skills and common interests

Our building will be SO accessible, so we can all be creative. We will have more space to expand our partnership with Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection (OCSI) and increase Wheelchair Maintenance Workshops. We will also have:

• Wheelchair charging stations
• A convenient location along the RVTD bus route
• High-tech wheelchair lift and additional ADA ramps
• A comfortable space designed with cognitive and physical differences in mind
• Planning for accessible tools and equipment use

Our building will be SO sustainable, so we are resilient. Our environmental building practices and climate change preparedness include:

• Solar panels to utilize renewable energy and sunshades to offset energy consumption
• Repurposed and reclaimed materials donated by local partners
• Firewise hardening construction with metal roofing and exterior walls
• Native plant gardens and drought tolerant landscaping
• Upgraded energy-efficient heating and cooling systems with no natural gas
• Hard surface decomposed granite as an alternative to petroleum based asphalt

Questions, pledges, or want to say hello?

Development Coordinator: Nina Gerona- nina@talentmakercity.org

Talent Maker City P.O. Box 164 Talent, OR 97540

Ph: (541) 897-4477

EIN Tax ID 81-4733512