The Maker Lab Capital Campaign

Help Us Build The Maker Lab

For 25 years, Project Threadways, Alabama Chanin, and The School of Making have championed the transformative power of making—not merely as craft, but as a foundation for building systems of connection, care, creativity, and change.

Now we invite you to help us write our next chapter.

The Vision

We're raising $3.5 million to create The Maker Lab—a permanent home in downtown Florence's historic cotton district. This space will serve as a living ecosystem of circular design, education, and community-powered innovation.

The Maker Lab represents a systemic response to urgent challenges: the need for sustainable production, cultural preservation at a critical moment when 75% of master textile artisans are over 65, and economic opportunity in communities where traditional crafts can drive development.

The Urgent Need

Within the next decade, centuries of textile heritage could be lost forever as traditional knowledge disappears faster than it can be preserved. While demand for authentic handmade goods reaches all-time highs, many rural areas still face unemployment 40-60% above national averages.

The Maker Lab is our solution—a replicable model that transforms traditional crafts into engines of economic development while preserving irreplaceable cultural knowledge.

Our Proven Impact

25 years of creating change:

• 71,500+ garments sold through sustainable practices

• 14,898+ students educated in traditional crafts

• 550+ artisans provided meaningful employment

• Our capacity is expected to triple from 2026 onward

Two-Phase Campaign

Phase 1: Building Foundation - $2 Million (Immediate Priority) Essential renovation including structural work, safety systems, basic infrastructure, and professional services. This phase enables us to begin operations.

Phase 2: Complete Facility - $1.5 Million Equipment, technology, interior furnishing, and signage to transform the space into a fully operational community center featuring artisan studios, education spaces, exhibition areas, and community gathering places.

What We're Building

The Maker Lab will house artisan studios, educational spaces, exhibition galleries, and community gathering areas where people from across the globe will learn essential skills, explore sustainable design, and collaborate across disciplines.

This campaign represents more than renovation—it's resistance to extractive production and short-term thinking. It's our commitment to building systems rooted in dignity, sustainability, and shared knowledge.

We are still here. Still creating. Still evolving. Still making.

Join us—one stitch, one story, one system at a time.

Make Your Gift Today

Donate online or send a check to:
Project Threadways
462 Lane Drive
Florence, Alabama 35630

Checks should be made out to “Project Threadways” with “Capital Campaign” included in the memo.

Questions: donate@projectthreadways.org

Project Threadways is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID: 83-4366226.

See our full Campaign Deck here with Commemorative Naming Opportunities here.