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— This month at Medforge Hello friends and neighbors, We have a lot to tell you in this newsletter:
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— October 31 Welcome to Deadford. What a night!
On Halloween night 2026, a crew of Medforge makers turned Arts Collaborative Medford into a haunted, gothic manor for our first Welcome to Deadford Halloween Ball. The event was a greater success than we could have hoped for! We hosted 118 guests at Deadford Manor, who brought some of the most lovingly made, hilarious, and creative costumes I have ever seen. DJ Cruz kept the dance floor full until midnight, and the night was filled with music, laughter, and good times. This was our first major public event and fundraiser. Our volunteer crew worked tirelessly to conceive and build Deadford Manor over weeks of evenings and weekends. Thought and care went into every detail, from set walls to a séance room where people could go to find a quieter, more relaxed atmosphere. Medforge could not have put on such a great show without our local partners and sponsors, who together committed more than $10,000 to Medforge in the past month alone! We would like to thank Wilderscaping, Needham Bank, Cummings Foundation, Tufts University, Goldilox Bagels, Germano Build, Medford Brewing Company, Elements Massage Medford, Deep Cuts, Simple Fare, Colleen's, Trove Green Provisions, and Book Wonder for all of their help and support! A special thanks to Arts Collaborative Medford for giving us a house to haunt. ACM has been our staunchest supporter and our home base since we started bringing Medforge to life. But most of all, THANK YOU! Not only did the community show up, they showed up in STYLE! Everyone deserved a costume prize! There are few things that mean more to me personally than watching a group of great people talking, laughing, sharing, and yes, dancing together. I think Welcome to Deadford is a wonderful example of what Medforge is working to build: not just a space with tools where we can build gothic manors, or whatever else our imaginations dream up, but a community around it that supports each other, makes things, and shapes our future together. And yes, Deadford will rise again in October 2027! Relive the night in our Welcome to Deadford 2026 photo gallery. See the photos → | ||
— Disappointing news: two grant decisions The Commonwealth announced this year's Community One Stop for Growth awards, and Medforge's MassDevelopment application was not among them. That grant would have renovated 10,000 square feet of unused warehouse space at 398–400 Riverside Avenue into a makerspace, a vibrant community center, and a resource hub for the region. The cost of that project is beyond Medforge's current means without significant outside investment, so our plans for Riverside Avenue are on hold while we reassess our capital strategy. We've asked MassDevelopment for the reviewers' feedback and a conversation about applying again next year. Separately, the Cummings Foundation let us know that our letter of inquiry was not among the 316 (of a record 1,018) invited to submit a full application for 2027. We'll request their feedback when it opens in December, and we'll be back in the next cycle. We won't pretend either one wasn't a blow, but we are disappointed, NOT daunted! Our MassDevelopment proposal was a first-year, all-volunteer organization's first application into the most competitive One Stop round in the program's history. Medforge was up against cities and developers with full-time grant-writing teams. We wrote a credible and powerful proposal because of the amazing team behind it: Ware Street Workspaces, designLAB architects, Windover Construction, and Medforge's own volunteers. What we learn from the feedback will make the next proposal stronger. Similarly, first-year organizations face long odds in a round with a record 1,018 applicants. Both were big swings, and both will teach us what we need to increase our chances of success. We will reapply to these opportunities and to every opportunity that gets us closer to providing the space and services our community has told us they need. | ||
— What comes next: Medforge in 2027 Medforge has had an incredible first year. This newsletter now reaches 289 readers. Our Intro to Household Tools class ran four sessions, two of them sold out. Local businesses and foundations see our potential and are backing us. And we threw the best Halloween party Medford has ever seen! So here's the plan. Medforge will continue hosting community events at Arts Collaborative Medford through the winter, starting with the ACM Open Studios & Art Market on Saturday, November 14. New Intro to Household Tools sessions, including the "Patch that wall!" class, will open this spring. We are working with Medford Vocational Technical High School on a plan to hold programming there after school hours. A partnership with the school would allow us to offer low-cost welding, plasma cutting, professional sewing, and woodworking classes to the community while we work toward building a space of our own. We are still actively looking for that space. We continue to work with our partners at Ware Street Workspaces to find innovative solutions that support us both. We are also working with city and state officials and the owners of empty warehouse space in Medford on ways to overcome the challenge of high real estate costs in our area. If you know of a building, a landlord, or a partner we should be talking to, please let me know at Exec@MedforgeMaker.space. | ||
— Events & community
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— Get involved Medforge runs on the power of its people, and there are many ways you can join in.
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Prefer to give your time? Become a member or volunteer by emailing Info@MedforgeMaker.space. This last year has been incredible, and we are dedicated to doing even more next year! Thank you again for all of your help and support. See you soon. Trae, for the Medforge team | ||
Medforge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving the greater Medford community and its makers. |
