Ten Years Later
This month feels especially meaningful.
Ten years ago this May, a small group of us traveled to Brooklyn to attend a summit put on by Etsy. We were reimagining what community learning and small town economic development could look like. Talent Maker City was just a spark of an idea filled with possibility, excitement, anticipation, and honestly… a little bit of wild hope and blissful ignorance.
I don’t think any of us could have imagined what that tiny spark would grow into. And yet somehow, here we are.
3 of TMC’s founders, Karen Rycheck, Darby Ayers-Flood, and Alli French in front of the Brooklyn Bridge May 2016
Every year we put together our Annual Report. It’s a time when we analyze our data and dive deeper into our spreadsheets - while also pausing to take in the impact and remember the human stories behind every number.
In 2025, over 8,000 visits filled our studios with creativity, curiosity, laughter, and connection.
Every day inside TMC, people of all ages are discovering confidence through making. Whether that’s through sewing, ceramics, welding, woodworking, screenprinting, bike repair, watercolor painting, 3D printing, or simply finding a place where they feel like they belong.
Students learn math through hands-on making in the woodshop.
Sewing workshops with high school allow students to repair clothing and express creativity.
Gelli printing with youth from the Native American Student Union.
While we put together our Annual Report for 2025, I kept coming back to this thought:
So much has happened because our community believed this idea could become something real.
Not just a building.
Not just programs.
But a place where people could gather, create, heal, connect, and grow together.
This year we partnered with schools and organizations across Southern Oregon and beyond, serving more than 3,500 student visits through educational programming.
We hosted workshops and open studios that welcomed over 2,000 participants into hands-on learning experiences.
We collaborated with more than 50 nonprofit and community partners to support programs rooted in creativity, belonging, accessibility, resilience, and connection.
Amazement at an indigo dying workshop.
Jackson County Sexual Assault Response Team JCSART joined us to make ceramic hearts for survivors and to get to know each other better as a team
And while those numbers are incredible, they don’t fully tell the story.
The real story lives in the moments:
students discovering they’re capable of more than they thought
neighbors meeting each other across a workbench
volunteers teaching skills to the next generation
someone walking through our doors nervous and leaving feeling connected
the sound of laughter mixing with the hum of busy hands at work
Hands-on cultural crafts at a Día de los Muertos celebration.
Meeting neighbors at a tote bag sewing workshop.
That’s what gets me.
Because this community built this. Together.
Students visit from Henley High School
Over the last ten years, TMC has grown from a hopeful idea into a vibrant, living ecosystem of people, partnerships, creativity, and care. We’ve weathered challenges together, responded to disasters together, celebrated together, and continued believing deeply in the power of hands-on creativity to build a more connected, more prosperous, and resilient community.
And somehow, after all these years… it still feels magical every time I walk through the shop and see it full of people making things together.
Thank you for believing in this wild little idea ten years ago. Thank you for showing up, volunteering, teaching, donating, collaborating, participating, and helping us build what Talent Maker City has become today.
We truly could not do this without you.
Here’s to the next chapter. ***Stay tuned for our big 10 year celebration on October 10th (10/10)!
If you want to read the full Annual Report for 2025 and revel in the sweetness, check it out on our website here:
With warmth and gratitude,
Alli
Thanks for being part of our story and community - together we’re building a more connected, creative, and resilient place through hands-on making.
