finding your community

Community usually refers to a social unit larger than a small village that shares common values.  Finding the community you belong to can become quite the challenge, especially if you dwell in a small town or you simply can't find your people.  Moving to Portland, I knew this wouldn't be a problem because the resources for the handmade community overfloweth!  With just a little browsing, I found so many great places here that I can't wait to check out.

I'm participating in my first Portland market on May 11th with Crafty Wonderland and while browsing their site and clicking on through about five other vendors I came across ADX / Portland, a membership based 10,000 sqaure foot space that caters to the thinkers & makers.  Helping creatives by providing resources such as a work space, machine use, classes and support by other artisans.  

Through them I found Destination DIY, an independently produced public radio show and podcast bringing you stories about all kinds of creativity.  They hold Makin' It: listening party & project nights, basically, beer-pizza-live dj & projects. Obviously I'm going next time.

Also through ADX I discovered Portland Made, a collective of Portland based designers, local goods retailers, and manufacturers.  I'm attending their launch party tomorrow night and wanted to share a little more about them with the video below.  I plan on doing a recap of the event, so don't miss it!

Portland Made from Portland Made on Vimeo.

If you have been wanting to find a community of your own and don't know where to start- try connecting with a etsy street team, browsing the community section of craigslist for local events & classes and even a quick google search.  You never know what is out there until you look for it!