Factory 3 — Attraction in Portland

After getting into stained glass art by just creating a small home studio and always working alone, joining Factory 3 opened a completely new world for me as a maker. The environment of working on my craft surrounded by other makers and artists doing everything from 3-D printing, to metal work, to candle making, is highly motivating and always interesting to see what I wouldn’t normally see in terms of how things are created. The community of makers and artists at Factory 3 is made up of such a lovely group of people whom I likely wouldn’t meet in my other walks of life. Essentially, this is a coworking space for makers to work on their craft that also provides the potential to dive into new mediums via classes taught by community members, where the environment is also conducive to taking meetings, getting some computer work done, or even just spending some down time socializing with other members. I couldn’t recommend this space, and this...

I took a public speaking class with Aaren Rivard at Factory3.

The space is great, very inviting and dynamic, with lots of opportunities to learn different things.

The class itself was wonderful and exceeded my expectations. I do not like public speaking at all and was hesitant about participating. Aaren has a unique style of teaching which is both informative and participatory. He does a great job at making people relaxed and comfortable. This class was great because it not just taught you skills to speak better publicly, it also helped clarify the reasons for why you want to improve this skill. I think this class would be great for anyone, but in particular people who are looking for a public speaking course that is not solely centered around business and more corporate settings (although it can apply to that as well). I would highly recommend it, and look forward to returning to the space for...

I recently took a metal lathe class, and it was a fantastic hands-on experience. The instructor was knowledgeable, helpful, and went above and beyond to provide extra information beyond the core curriculum. Their passion for the subject made learning both engaging and insightful.

As someone with experience using a wood lathe, I found it fascinating to compare the two. While working with metal is a completely different process—like comparing apples and oranges—it was great to expand my skill set and get a feel for the unique challenges and techniques involved. Having access to a metal lathe and being able to work with it directly made all the difference in understanding how it operates.

Overall, I highly recommend this class to anyone interested in learning metalworking, whether you’re a beginner or coming from a woodworking...