FK chats to Chester, co founder of Work-Shop who lets you in on the amazing happenings at Work-Shop and their fun short courses by Sydney’s brightest creative minds! Feel like learning something new before the end of the year? Then head to the Work-Shop Calender for their awesome line-up of Christmas Classes!
Tell us about Work-Shop and what things we can expect to discover.
Work-Shop are crusaders for creativity and advocates of the arts. We run a fun and quirky range of short courses that encourage people to unleash their inner AWESOME! Our classes are taught by a rockstar line up of Sydney’s finest creative talent.
When did you open the doors and what was the motivation?
We launched in June 2013. We wanted to make the arts more accessible in Sydney by connecting the community with the best creators we could find. Our goal is to get people to step outside the distractions of everyday life and experience the joy of making things with their hands, hearts and minds. We believe that creative thinking stretches the boundaries of what is possible.
What sort of courses can we expect to find at Work-Shop, and the talented people taking them?
We’ve got a super interesting mix of courses taught by amazingly talented and passionate teachers. You can learn home brewing with Young Henry’s, typography with Gemma O’Brien, street art with Sid Tapia, tattoo illustration with Broadway Tattoo… you get the picture.
What do you love most about running Work-Shop?
We love that moment at the end of a class when people look at the work they’ve created with pride and astonishment. That moment when they realise that they are capable of so much more than they thought. We also love the strong sense of community among teachers and students. Work-Shop feels like a creative haven where anyone can come and express themselves in a supportive environment amongst like-minded people.
Who are the team behind Work-Shop and what are their roles?
The founders of Work-Shop are Chester Garcia and Matt Branagan. We dream up amazing courses, source the best teachers we can find, spread the Work-Shop cause and handle the day to day running of the business. Sara Cho and Nina Leelah are our awesome support crew and keep us out of trouble. They make sure all the boxes are ticked and help us with absolutely everything. The Work-Shop team also extends to our incredible teachers and community of artists that are always keen to help out and support what we do.
What challenges have you faced running and setting up your own business?
Budget! We didn’t have very much money to get everything up and running and this was definitely our biggest challenge. On the other hand, it forced us to be super creative when it came to the fit out and really daring when it came to our marketing. 90% of our fit out was made of recycled material which we sourced for free. We’re also pretty fearless when it comes to marketing. One of our tag lines is “Do EXTRAORDINARY Shit”.
What have the responses been like so far?
So far it has been amazing. We’ve had incredible feedback from students and our teachers are love sharing what their passionate about to an engaged community.
What new projects are you working on for Work-Shop for the remainder of 2013?
In the lead up to Christmas, we’re going to open up Work-Shop as a “DIY Christmas present” space. Rather than buying consumer products, people can put heart and soul into making awesome gifts for people they love. We’re also partnering with ETSY for their Christmas pop up store in Sydney. Stay tuned!
All the specific details:
86 Broadway Chippendale NSW 2008
e: chester@work-shop.com.au
p: 0405619923
www.work-shop.com.au
www.facebook.com/WorkShopAustralia
