A community of artists and makers, very welcoming and accepting of other artists…read more I hope to be a part of this scene one day

Past Lives Makerspace is an ideal facility for hobbyists, inventors, craftspeople and artists…read more There are studios and workspaces for all kinds of activities: metal shop, wood shop, ceramics studio, glass and stained glass studio, textile arts studio and so much more. Every work area is well equipped with the tools of the trade and the tools are well maintained. It's the kind of makerspace where you can spend all day. There's a full commercial kitchen and communal eating/meeting area, so no need to leave in the middle of a project. And the community of makers is phenomenal. The member-teachers I've learned from so far have been top notch - I look forward to taking classes in ceramics, stained glass and art framing next. I highly recommend Past Lives LLC for quality, community and learning.

What a lovely way to learn how to create art, and to learn something about yourself at the same…read moretime. So much of what Phil teaches spills into other areas of life too--areas where perfectionism and self-criticism reside. He helps us be more gentle with ourselves as we approach creativity. The energy in the room is not competitive, it is supportive and helpful. People return, year after year, to retake the "beginner" classes, in part to stay in touch with the beginner mindset and sense of wonder. The Drawing Studio is wonderful!

If you're looking for an art class where the instructor shows you how to hold your brush to paint…read moreclouds, this is not the class for you. Phil Sylvester does something much more valuable: he helps you to ignore critical thinking when you paint (or draw--he has drawing classes, too). Keeping your left brain from sabotaging your artwork can be a formidable task for some people, myself included. Phil basically helps you become that 5 year old kid with crayons again, where you have no expectations of what your art is supposed to be. His exercises encourage you just to paint, while he cites mantras from himself and other artists amid occasional music. This process leads you down a path where you find yourself and lose yourself at the same time. I can honestly say, in the short time I have been painting, that Phil has made me a better artist. Any class which does that is a good thing. So I suggest taking classes that teach techniques and color theory as well as taking the types of classes offered at the Drawing Studio. Every time you expand your horizons as an artist your soul will benefit.

I have a vintage, fun little piece of costume jewelry...it's my favorite piece. It broke a couple…read moreof years ago, and I could never get anyone to even look at it. Megan was more than happy to look at it. She fixed it, and charged me a more than fair price. I can't wait to go back to shop her store. She has all kinds of vintage goodies!

Megan repaired a broken silver and turquoise necklace for my wife. She did an excellent job. Thank…read moreyou, Megan.

Francoise was the perfect florist for our wedding! She is an amazing artist - we just asked her to…read moremake bouquets that would work well with our style and colors and they turned out beautiful - we are still (a week later) getting notes about how great the flowers were. Thank you for your beautiful flowers and for being wonderful to work with, Françoise!!

What a kind, helpful person! I called with a whole list of questions and got lots of good answers…read more She was flexible and willing to work with my special situation. We didn't end up going with her because the dates didn't work out, but gosh, thanks for being a nice person.

I attended a meeting at Greenhouse Gatherings a few days ago. It is a beautiful space, a little…read moreoasis in the city, and I had a great time. Lila, who runs the space, is a great baker and offered delicious cookies (including gluten-free options) and a fruit torte we loved (also some amazing caffeine-free beverages). I plan to attend a craft event there soon. I totally recommend the space. Thank you!

Such a beautiful space! I attended a botanical craft session there and was overwhelmed with the…read moresimple beauty of this place. Surrounded by fruit trees and fragrant herbs and Lila's wonderful iced teas and snacks. It was so well decorated and the ac unit ensured our comfort the whole time. I would definitely go back! Thank you Lila!

I have an interesting history with Reed. I initially applied to Reed as an undergraduate in 1992,…read moreand got waitlisted for admission. It was in my top ten college choices because it "fit the bill" of schools I applied to. I went with Hampshire College instead, mainly because I wanted to stay close to home on the east coast and go to college in New England. Reed was a more selective school like Amherst or Oberlin was to get into, but had a campus culture that was more like Bard, Sarah Lawrence or Hampshire's granted it just happened to be on the West Coast. In 1994, after my first year at Hampshire, I took a road trip west with some Hampshire friends to spend time in Portland for the Summer. I TOTALLY fell in love with Portland, and Oregon, and found it a relaxing and cultured place to base myself (I'm from NYC), and Portland had a pretty interesting theater & film scene, so I wanted to come back and explore it more and decided I'd take my academic leave after my second year at Hampshire and base myself in Portland for at least a year. In the Summer of 1995, after I'd finished up my second year at Hampshire, I moved out to Portland from the east coast after filing to go on academic leave for the 1995/1996 academic year from Hampshire. It was a good change of pace for me, because I'd gotten a little overworked and burnt out during my second year at Hampshire. I did a lot of work in the theater community in Portland, and did sone film projects and took classes at the Northwest Film Center in downtown Portland as well. I enjoyed living in Portland so much, I had a lot of mixed feelings about even returning back East, so I decided to re-apply to Reed as a transfer student and finish up my Bachelor's out west instead. Although I was finally accepted to Reed as a transfer student, it came with a couple of steep caveats: I'd have to have taken my second year all over again to fulfill certain Reed distribution requirements because they felt my first two years from Hampshire didn't transfer well (this is when I started to get annoyed) although I had classes with A's and B's from Amherst, SmIth & UMass/Amherst. Not to mention two years worth of glowing exceptional evaluations from my Hampshire coursework, as well as strong recommendations from Hampshire faculty. This is when I started to realize that Reed is a bit pretentious and full of itself as an academic institution, BUT, I wanted to continue to live and work in Portland, and loved my apartment in SE Portland (within commuting distance of Reed's campus; so I could've lived off-campus) and didn't want to give that up; since I'd felt my biggest complaint about Hampshire was the insularity of being forced to live on-campus for all four years (this is in fact, STILL a Hampshire requirement, exceptions are ONLY granted on a case-by-case basis if you meet certain conditions). Then, in the Winter of 1996, the financial aid award letters arrived from both Reed & Hampshire: Reed gave me the BARE minimum (worse than my financial aid package at Hampshire had been my first two years) and ALSO requiring I maintain at least one year of on-campus residency (thus losing my apartment) AND of course, take an extra year longer to get my degree. Hampshire, in contrast, upped my financial aid to nearly full tuition for my final two years, offered to help pay for a semester abroad for Field Study (I'd also just applied to a Theater Program in London for the Fall 1996 semester) & gave me a scholarship to help me pay for books and any associated expenses. Um, what would you all have done? Bye, Reed & Portland. Oh well. The saddest thing for me was that I had to give up my really cute Portland apartment. However, I was on Field Study in London (practically paying nothing to attend the British American Drama Academy) in the Fall of 1996 coming back from Oregon, and then back in Massachusetts at Hampshire by January of 1997 (and practically paying nothing to finish attending Hampshire). So, in the end, it was the right decIsion for me to make, AND I got my BA in time in four years time from Hampshire instead. Sometimes though I do engage in a bit of: "What If I'd gone to Reed.....?"

This place is very convenient to Gigantic Brewing and Hip Chicks Do Wine it is a great place to…read morewalk your dog around if you are in the area. IF you are interested: Park in the north parking lot on Steele and then cross the pedestrian bridge and you will find an awesome open space to walk your dog. It's pretty low key, you may cross a person with their dog off leash but most dogs keep to themselves and there aren't many people who know about this area. Check it out if you can!