Why make a coworking space?

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists and many individals who work for themselves may find it's a lot lonelier than expected. Especially when it comes to creative types, we're terribly misunderstood and can get tired of going it alone, even us introverts.

When I quit teaching to work for myself, the one thing I missed the most was my coworkers. They were my team, my family. We were in the trenches together and supported one another. If I needed help or wanted to share something funny from my class, I had a group who could help or laugh along with me.

I started making art in my basement and spent my days with my husband and my dog. It was nice, sure. But I soon wanted to get out of the house and see the world and other people. It was also hard to find the right people. I love my family and friends who were there and tried to help, but I really needed to find others who could give me advice, share stories or tricks, and understand what I was going through to make it on my own.

There was a lot of advice and encouragement from Instagram artists, podcasts and blogs from other entrepreneurs. I still wanted to find people around South Bend who were doing what they loved and doing it well. Also I wanted to know where all the women were and all the artists. Artists and makers are entrepreneurs too, and I wanted to connect with more of them. I wanted to have coworkers again.

Having a coworking environment for artists and makers will hopefully provide the support and encouragement necessary to get more artists and makers doing more of what they love. From finding the right shows to do, shops to sell in, tools to use, techniques to learn, and sharing inspiration, we hope MAKE SOUTH BEND will change what it's like to be an artist in this community by making it better.