[cid:image003.jpg@01CE8233.E63C0840] FOR INFORMATION: Heather Joy Spaceworks Coordinator 253.682.1722 HeatherJ@tacomachamber.org SpaceworksTacoma.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 16, 2013 Spaceworks Announces Tinkertopia Grand Opening Saturday July 20 at 10am TACOMA, Wash. - Join Spaceworks Tacoma in welcoming Tinkertopia, the latest Spaceworks Creative Enterprise to open its doors! Tinkertopia's grand opening is scheduled for 10am on Saturday, July 20 at their perfectly placed location, 1914 Pacific Avenue, in the heart of the University of Washington Tacoma campus with close proximity to the Tacoma Art Museum and Children's Museum. Store owners Darcy and R.R. Anderson have created a destination for teachers, students, artists, crafters, inventors, makers, hackers, and tinkerers (of any age) in search of unusual materials for any creative venture. Tinkertopia, a creative reuse center, diverts safe and clean remnants, seconds, scraps, off-cuts, discards, misprints, and overstock from the waste stream, then redistributes these goods as low-cost arts & crafts supplies. Besides selling unique art and craft supplies, Tinkertopia will host studio/work space for birthday parties, field trips, and craft parties. Plus, they accept donations and will even pickup "good junk"/materials for creative minds! All the details can be found at their website: tinkertopia.com. Thanks to a partnership with the University of Washington Tacoma, Spaceworks is able to provide the 1914 Pacific Avenue storefront to Tinkertopia, one of its Creative Enterprise projects, for a 6-month period. The Chamber's Metropolitan Development Director and Spaceworks Co-chair David Schroedel shares, "I'm excited about the university's continued investment in Tacoma's creative economy. With UW Tacoma coming on board as a Spaceworks partner it will allow the program to help even more fledging businesses move from basement to storefront." --###-- Spaceworks Tacoma, a joint initiative of the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, is designed to activate empty storefronts and vacant space in Tacoma. The initiative makes no- and low-cost temporary space, training, and technical assistance available to artists, creative entrepreneurs, organizations, and community groups in order to nurture successful projects that transform Tacoma into a stronger, more active city. Since starting in 2010, Spaceworks has supported 44 active projects, exhibited 69 large-scale art installations, activated 24 underused spaces in the downtown footprint, and supported over 130 events and performances. Since January 2012, Spaceworks has successfully incubated 5 new businesses into lease-paying tenants. Spaceworks leadership looks forward to adding Tinkertopia to that list. Locations for Spaceworks Tacoma are provided by property owners: UW Tacoma, A Street Associates, Steve Rose, Seven Seventeen Investors, and AT&T. Spaceworks is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works, Ovation TV, Americans for the Arts and The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.