Making a Way Out of No Way: An Introduction
By Allison Bland
I live in East Somerville, Massachusetts, in a two bedroom unit on the top floor of an apartment building. My street is well-shaded and catty-corner to a colorful playground, complete with a cool, the-future-is-now whirly ride. My neighbors always make a point of speaking to each other in a friendly way, frequently in Spanish. It is a comfortable environment that affords me the space and proximity to do most things I like to do. But some of my creative endeavors would be best in a separate, designated space. For those activities, I ponder the distance between the hackerspace Artisan’s Asylum now making national waves, and the sprawling housing development of Charles-Newton (one of greater Boston’s largest “projects,”) each just minutes away. In both of these places a culture of craft is well-ingrained, and I wonder what the two spaces could learn from the other.
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