Artisan's Asylum to hold open house at expanded workshop

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent

Artisan's Asylum, Inc., the Somerville-based community workshop, is celebrating its first birthday, and the group is preparing to get some majorly bigger britches.

In September the nonprofit will move into a 25,000-square-foot temperature controlled warehouse space on Tyler Street with room for more than 100 rental studios for artists. It also offers classes to the public in an array of mediums.

This weekend the group will hold an open house at the new 10 Tyler Street location from 7 to 10 p.m., featuring food and drink, tours of the space, art installations, and performances and music. The event has an optional suggested donation of $25 at the door.

The move will mark a step for the group, which plans to hire full time staff and professionalize its workshops, which feature metal and wood shops, sewing machines, electronics tools, and others.

Presently the group runs two community workshops at Joy Street and at Windsor street near Union Square, and is home to a bevy of local artists who use the organization's tools to weld, chop, saw, sew, and solder their creations to life.

A brief presentation by Gui Cavalcanti, President of Artisan's Asylum Inc., will be held at 8 p.m. Cavalcanti will be joined by an economic development staffer from the city's Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development.

Visioning for the building is still ongoing, and the organization is soliciting input with an online survey from artists and crafts-people for input in the design process.