The Making Place Finds a Home at Uptown Hearth in Columbia Falls
After an open house in May, the community maker-space and DIY tool library is planning for its soft opening in June
By Mike Kordenbrock
In describing how things have progressed with The Making Place, Justin Barry says it’s a little bit like he and other organizers have been on a hot streak of late, picking up various speed boosts in a game of Mario Kart.
Barry, a local upcycled clothing and gear creator, and other like-minded individuals, have been working together since about the fall of 2023 to try and find a foothold in the Flathead Valley for their vision of a community maker-space to serve as a focal point for sharing art, crafts, skills and some of the equipment and supplies it takes to make those projects a reality.
As of June 1, The Making Place’s first location will officially be open on the third floor of the Uptown Hearth building in Columbia Falls. An open house celebration took place earlier in May, which Barry said helped further build excitement for the official soft opening in June and also successfully raised more money for the space.
The event featured information about how to get involved, as well as more than a dozen different ways to interact with art at the event, including by visiting with artists, attending demonstrations, listening to live music, and creating things at hands-on stations.
Once it’s open, access to The Making Place can be had through a tiered membership system. Starting out at $10 a month, or the “Friend” level of membership, someone can have access to The Making Place’s tool library, which allows for equipment to be rented out on a limited basis. The current inventory runs the gamut from items like a circular saw, soldering iron and drill press, to a photography reflector and sewing machine.
From there, different levels of membership offer different additional perks, like discounts on classes and workshops, access to the community workspace and the other equipment and workspaces there, and free entry into events. A handful of offices in The Making Place are being rented out individually by artists, including Barry, Sydney Boveng and Tarek Penser.
Right now, The Making Place has plans for about seven events running through late July. They include “Maker of the Month” workshops, a craft night, a volunteer mixer and an open artist critique. One big upcoming event Barry mentioned is the June 14 Storytelling Night at White Raven Winery in Columbia Falls, which is being held in partnership with Flathead Story Concerts.
As for those speed boosts that have made all this come together with so much momentum, Barry said that sometime after the inaugural Harvest Moon Fest last fall, (which was hosted by artist and The Making Place programming manager Amy Gwartney and potter and ceramicist Cooper Jeppesen), it felt like interest accelerated. The event, which featured a raffle, artist demonstrations, food, drink, music and an open mic, got broad support and a strong turnout, and it left people asking when the folks behind The Making Place would be doing another event.
At that point The Making Place still hadn’t found its home, and Barry said the hope had been that by the end of 2025, they’d find their first location. But in a fortunate turn of events, the Columbia Falls coffee shop, café and coworking space Uptown Hearth reached out earlier this winter to ask if they’d be interested in leasing out the top floor of the coworking space portion of the property. The idea was that bringing an arts-oriented space into the mix would be a good fit, and Barry said that admittedly having a coffee shop below sounded like a pretty good deal.
Brook Myrhe, who manages the volunteer program for The Making Place, was among the first people from the nonprofit to check out the prospective location, and when Barry and other board members got to see photos, excitement began to build about the arrangement.
A lease agreement was eventually signed, and then work began on helping The Making Place come to life. There have been equipment donations, including a letter press made available by board member and print maker Kay Lyle. Screen printing equipment will also be housed in the space, as well as supplies and equipment for drawing and painting. Just the other night Barry said he finished building a supply closet.
Barry emphasized the widespread effort that it took to make all of this happen. Volunteers who have taken on responsibilities and board positions include Barry, Gwartney, Myrhe, Lyle, Ellen Mering, Jess Garby, Marijke Stob, Shannon Leahy, Sienna Broglie, and Tricia Hinchey.
Barry said that one of the ambitions of The Making Place is to give people the tools, literally and figuratively, to make things on their own.
“What we want to click in people’s brains a little bit is that you can make stuff yourself. And here’s how you can do it, and here’s the tools to do it,” Barry said.