What is Patchwork?
Patchwork is a community makerspace dedicated to fostering local mutual aid and the solidarity economy. We are creating a community-owned commons in our neighborhood that serves as a hub for creative political organizing, cultural activation, and working-class community support.
What is your long-term vision for our community?
Patchwork is rooted in the idea that lasting community change requires owned and controlled community spaces. A shared commons—controlled by and accountable to the people it serves—is fundamental to building power, trust, and solidarity. By owning our space instead of renting it, we will maintain independence from market pressures and landlord interests. This will allow us to keep the space affordable, community-focused, and aligned with our values. Patchwork won’t just be a building; it’s a model for how communities can collectively own and steward the resources they need to thrive.
While we work to secure our own permanent space, we are experimenting with a pop-up in Dupont Circle.
What is Patchwork’s goal?
Our goal is to create a safe and affordable space in Ward 2 for people to make, create, and organize together. We think it’s safe to say DC is a pretty atomized city. It’s hard to build community solidarity when you live in a 500 square foot apartment, there are cops in the libraries, coffee is $11, and the national guard is “detaining” random people in parks. All the normal places for gathering: the home, the library, the cafe, the street, are under attack here. If people don’t feel safe gathering in public, and they can’t afford to gather in private, then what are their options? They’re screwed. That’s one element of what Patchwork plans to address. Safe space for organizers, for artists, for people who want to learn new things.
The other element is the issue of making things in today’s economy. We all know prices for everyday items are rising. We also recognize in many cases that the sources for those items are gross. It feels bad on many levels to buy a bookshelf made with sweatshop labor, or throw out clothes you don’t know how to mend. We want people to have the tools and the know-how to live more independently from these ugly systems. The beautiful thing about becoming independent is that you can’t do it alone. If we want the autonomy to stand against the state, or even to stand against H&M, we need to have a support network in place that allows us to be independent of the things we’re fighting.
Where is Patchwork located?
We have secured a pop-up space for at least six months in Dupont Circle at 1506 19th st NW, on the third floor of a walk-up office building.
What services will Patchwork offer?
The services we’ll offer will vary depending on the space we have access to. Ideally this will be a wide range of services including classes and workshops, community meeting space, a tool library, artist studios and shared workspace, resident organizations space, and music practice and performance rooms.
Who can become a member?
Anyone in the community can become a Patchwork member! We offer sliding scale memberships so it’s accessible to people of all income levels. Members get access to co-working space, free and discounted access to events, resources, tools, and more.
How much does membership cost?
We offer sliding scale memberships ranging from $10/month to $100/month depending on what you can afford. These memberships provide access to our full community commons and all our services. Membership sustains us and helps us pay necessary expenses on the space.
Memberships help us exist for a long time. Patchwork is founded by working class neighbors in Ward 2 and across the city. We do not have the ability to make this work without a consistent pool of funding to make rent or a mortgage in a permanent space (right now we are lucky enough to have our pop-up space rent free thanks to dumb.co!), buy tools and supplies, and eventually, maybe, pay some staff.
Right now, member fees go directly back into things for our members to use, like sewing machines, a 3D printer, power tools, etc. The membership fees allow us to provide tables for you to work on, buy stuff for you to work with, and connect you with a bunch of cool people who can teach you how to make things. In comparison to other co-working and makerspaces in the area our membership fees are very (very) cheap, but if they remain a barrier for anyone to access the space, people should reach out and we’ll figure something out.
What is a tool library?
A tool library allows community members to borrow tools they need instead of having to purchase them. This reduces waste and makes tools accessible to everyone, regardless of income level.
How can I get in touch with Patchwork?
You can reach us at hi@patchworkdc.com. We’re happy to answer questions, discuss partnership opportunities, or help you get involved in the project.
How did the Patchwork pop-up come about?
Patchwork began as a project of Ward 2 Mutual Aid organizers who wanted to purchase a space for local artists, organizers, and community members to gather. The group had been exploring ideas for a collectively-owned space since 2025, in response to rising rents, attacks on DC’s right to self-govern, and increased gentrification in Ward 2. The consistent thru-line has been putting power back into the hands of community members, to keep neighbors rooted and resilient.
Core organizers formed the Patchwork Community LLC in February 2026 and began organizing-in other Ward 2 Mutual Aid members and volunteers to move forward with creating a shared space. After some months of figuring out what it would look like to actually open a space like Patchwork, we were presented with the opportunity to collaborate with dumb.co, a flip phone company who planned to set up a studio for their art and marketing team in Dupont Circle. After an initial meeting with the dumb.co leadership, we agreed that in exchange for free rent, we would test out our member-cooperative makerspace model, fill the space with creative materials and people, and share the space and materials with dumb.co. Thus, Patchwork was born.
What is the solidarity economy?
A solidarity economy means projects that reject the for-profit economy. It means reinvesting our earnings into our community, the spaces we use, and the people doing the work. We have strong relationships with local solidarity economy organizations like Beloved Community Incubator.