What is AmeriCorps Vista

Open Works is a newly established community-based makerspace in the Greenmount West Neighborhood District of Baltimore, Maryland. The space, located in a completely renovated building especially designed as a makerspace, encompasses 34,000 square feet and has an impressive array of new equipment, specialty shops, public spaces, and 140 micro-studios for creatives and entrepreneurs in the community. Open Works offers a variety of face-to-face courses to certify makers in five out of the seven studio spaces and relies heavily on the six full-time staff and fellows to run the space. Open Works is grappling with the need to increase paid memberships as a mechanism for sustainability and at the same time trying to meet the needs of a disadvantaged community. This chapter explores Open Works.