A big Thank You to all who supported our campaign! We deeply appreciate it.

We're still taking donations to our Capital Improvement Fund. Go to this page at the Net Positive website to make a donation. Thanks!

It's a Funding Frenzy for the FOUNDRY!  For our last 5 days, every donation you make to support our "transform the Foundry" campaign is worth DOUBLE. 

Thanks to a generous matching grant contribution from the Shea Family, from now until the end of our campaign...(JUST FIVE DAYS AWAY)...every donation you make will be matched dollar for dollar.  Please share our page with your friends!  Talk to your coworkers.  Send an email.  Share a link on facebook. 

The Foundry is a resource for our small businesses and artisans, its a venue for the community, its a space for education, collaboration, and the exchange of new ideas! 

The Foundry is good for new businesses and new ideas!  It's good for Buffalo!  It's good for you!!!

Sometimes you get an idea, a feeling, a desire to do something different . . .

Last May, a small group of folks moved into a recently vacated building on the East Side of Buffalo. We were passionate about using reclaimed and salvaged materials, found objects and trash-picked treasures to create new things, to create new opportunities.

When we looked around we saw a world with immense wealth, but extreme waste. We saw an environment providing so much abundance and opportunity, but increasingly in peril. We saw individuals with immense capabilities and talents but little access to opportunities. And we saw a neighborhood and city with so much potential, tremendous assets, people willing to contribute . . . and so we started!

You're Never Too Young, Or Too Old, To Learn New Skills at The Foundry! (One of Buffalo Labs' most popular offerings is "I Can Solder!")

The Foundry has begun . . .

• As a workshop and office space - for artists, artisans, tradespeople, small businesses and technology enthusiasts.
• As a multi-functional community space for performance, education, art and public gatherings.
• As a neighborhood anchor institution for artistic expression, creative exchange, and the encouragement of new ideas and action.

Sometimes you see an opportunity, think outside the box, identify a niche, or just see a better way...

The entrepreneurs and small businesses who make up The Foundry are innovators, creators, and makers. They thrive in the creative process, their products are green and local, their strategies and techniques are unique, personal and interconnected.

Whether it be making new high quality products from discarded objects and materials, restoring antique furniture, manufacturing new components with a 3D printer or creating a new recipe for the next local brew, new ventures are emerging and growing every day. 

With each passing month, more talented artisans are making their move to The Foundry.

We have furniture makers (and many other makers) at The Foundry!

Our fabulous residents:

• Azariah's Innocence - All natural hair care products, bath bombs, body butters, and lip balms. www.azariahsinnocence.com
• Buffalo Bottle Craft -- Fine glassware made from reclaimed bottles. thefoundrybuffalo.org/residents/buffalobottlecraft/
• Buffalo Lab -- A community of technology enthusiasts who share resources, knowledge, and interests. http://www.buffalolab.org
• Joseph DePrima -- Hobby Craft Brewer. Delicious!
• ReUse Action -- Green demolition, material salvage, and building restoration. www.reuseaction.com
• Nickel City Cycles -- Custom bicycle frames. thefoundrybuffalo.org/nickelcitycycles/
• Metal Sculpture & Custom Built Projects by Sarah Fonzi and Gerald Paterson. thefoundrybuffalo.org/sgstudios/
• Rusted Grain -- Woodworking using reclaimed materials. www.rustedgrain.com
• Rusty Nickel Food Buyers Co-op: bulk food ordering
• Red Headed Designs - Stunning furniture restoration  www.redheadeddesigns.com
• Metal Working by Sun Mones. 
• COMING SOON: Petrichorpaper, a New Paper Mill
• COMING SOON: a fiber arts center, classes on sewing/weaving, etc
  
• COMING SOON: a ceramic arts center
• Your Name or Big Idea Here (?)

The Foundry is about doing. It's about seizing the moment. It's about learning. It's about community. It's about you!

Yes! We'd love for you to donate and support us in meeting our goals. We will put it to good use - take a look below! But even more than your financial support, we want you to contribute your time, energy, and passion. We hope you’ll consider teaching a workshop, stopping by for a Second Saturday event, renting a space, volunteering, getting involved!

Sometimes you want to experiment, learn, explore, tinker, share, teach . . .

Our residents offer in-house trainings for other residents and workshops for the entire community. On the Second Saturday of every month, when we open our doors to the community, you can see Foundry residents and visiting artisans in action. 

We welcome you to come and enjoy the local musicians, the coffee roasting and beer brewing, the creativity of welders, weavers, glass blowers, techies, and hopefully jump right in!

Demonstrations of Skill (and music) at The Foundry!

Sometimes you can no longer wait, you can no longer talk about it, and you just need to ACT!

Here’s a short list of what we've made happen in the last year:

With Foundry Residents:

• We created ten studios equipped with the necessary specialized tools for each craft.
• We completed a 3,000 square foot addition to expand the building’s footprint.
• We outfitted a technology lab, a woodworking shop and a metalworking studio with necessary tools and equipment.
• We reached agreement with the landlord to purchase The Foundry.

With Community Support:

• We leveraged hundreds of hours of volunteer labor from residents and supporters to clean, organize, and create new spaces.
• A future fiber arts studio has been outfitted by a generous donation by Daemen College.
• With help from a National Grid grant,  we upgraded all the first floor lights to high efficiency lighting fixtures.
• With commitment of in-kind support from the Sprinkler Fitters Union Local 669, we’re upgrading our entire fire protection system.
• We created a master build-out plan, pro-bono, with architect Anne Dafchik to accommodate more residents, a community venue and spaces for our kitchen, cafe and a future restaurant.

We supported the community by:

• Hosting Buffalo's Torn Space Theatre’s production, “He Who Gets Slapped”.
• Hosting Vermont’s world famous Bread and Puppet Theater, Adam Ende and Puerto Rico’s Puppeteers Poncili Company.
• Serving as a location for local film production “Give and Take”.
• Initiating our Second Saturday at The Foundry series, and hosting Second Saturdays every month since May 2012
• Holding a series of free workshops, classes, and trainings for community members.
• Providing meaningful, hands-on internships for City Honors and Nichols students.
• Mobilizing 50 volunteers to plant 150 trees in the Masten Park Neighborhood.  

The power of collective ideas, collaboration and community engagement is more powerful, influential, and game changing than an individual act.

Bread and Puppet Theater at The Foundry!

Our Summer 2013 to-do list...

Our overall financial goal for 2013 is $95,000, but we need $30,000 right now to move several critical projects forward.

• Our fire protection system: Our effort received a huge boost with an in-kind donation from Davis Ulmer Sprinkler Company for a design of our new system. The Sprinkler Fitters union is helping by getting apprentices involved in completing most of the work. We still need to float the materials, and it's big. $15,000.
• Steel Staircases, Fire Doors and Firewalls: To access the second floor and open up twelve additional studios for new residents. $13,200. 
• Heating System: We have our sights set on a new energy-efficient furnace that will allow us to heat The Foundry with waste fuel. $12,500.
• Windows and Doors: As Buffalo Lab works to implement our keyless access system, we need to upgrade numerous doors in the building and open up windows that have long been blocked in. $1,750.
• Electrical System Upgrades and Improvements: We've upgraded all the ground level lighting to high efficiency fixtures, but we need to complete the second level and we need additional wiring improvements throughout the building. $3,500.
• Safety, signage, security system: $ 1,200.
• Plan review and permitting: $750.

Second Saturdays at The Foundry!

We're in it for the long haul

The maintenance and development of the building will be largely supported through revenues generated by space rental to emerging entrepreneurs, artisans, and small business owners. We strive to strike a balance between offering affordable spaces for all our residents while also making sure the building can sustain itself well into the future.

Rent for participating entrepreneurs includes utilities, access to community workspaces (wood shop, glass shop, metal shop, office space), access to a growing inventory of reclaimed materials that can be utilized for projects and first priority on professional and skill development classes.

Azariah's Innocence - Natural Beauty Products made at The Foundry!

Find out even more about us!

The Foundry Website: www.thefoundrybuffalo.org

Net Positive, The Foundry’s sponsoring organization: www.netpositivefoundation.org

Have a question? Just email info@thefoundrybuffalo.org

Farmer Pirates, selling home-grown Buffalo produce at Second Saturday