Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
The Makers Guild Inc. on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode 328
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We talk with Pedro Melendez and Alex Garcia about building Makers Guild Inc into a judgment-free home for artists in Manhattan, Kansas, with low-barrier classes and community events that make creativity easier to access. We also get personal about how pottery and mixed media art can support mental health, especially for veterans and military families looking for a real outlet.
• why Makers Guild Inc forms and what “judgment-free” means in practice
• keeping artists in Manhattan by creating space to make and show work
• the long-term vision for residencies, studios, and broader art classes
• teaching affordable pottery classes through UFM and why donations matter
• Pedro’s story of military service and using art to process trauma
• helping veterans find their voice and exploring potential VA support
• Alex’s approach to mixed media art and making beauty from hard subjects
• Colores De Mi Corazón as a free public exhibit celebrating heritage
• Dates, location, and planned performances and artist talks
The website is themakersguildinc.com. It’s not INK; it’s INC.
Sponsor And Show Introduction
SPEAKER_01Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on News Radio KMAN. We are back. This is the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio KMAN. I'm Dave Lewis. I have two guests in to talk about an organization that's called the Makers Guild Inc. We have Pedro Melendez here. Hello, sir. Hello, good morning.
SPEAKER_00Good morning, Manhattan.
SPEAKER_01We're going to learn a lot about you here in just a little bit. And you're a founder of the Makers Guild. Yes, or the founder.
SPEAKER_00One of the founders. One of the founders. Me and my partner. All right.
SPEAKER_01And then you have joining us a member of your board, Alex Garcia. Hello, Alex.
SPEAKER_02Hello, good morning.
SPEAKER_01How'd you get in this gig?
SPEAKER_02Um, okay, well, we're just friends, and I'm also an artist. And they were like, hey, do you want me to show you the ropes of how to, you know, create a community wherever you are? Because I'm also a military spouse. And I said, Yes, please. And they said, Good, now you're a board member.
SPEAKER_01That was easy. That was easy. You didn't even have to sign a uh a credit sheet or anything.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. How about that?
Creating A Judgment Free Art Space
SPEAKER_01All right, Pedro.
SPEAKER_00Tell me what this is all about. The Makers Guild. Yes. So the the Makers Guild Incorporated. Um got to make sure we had the incorporated so many Makers Guilds out there. But um we are a foundation. We're trying to um have a have a place for artists, right? To so they can express themselves without any censorship or um anyone um being afraid to show their art.
SPEAKER_01Is it like judgment-free?
SPEAKER_00Judgment-free space, right? Um, for anyone. Um the uh anyone in the community. Um, we we want to foster creativity and we want to um uh we want to foster creativity, inclusivity, and collaboration um with our artists. Uh so many artists out here, a lot of artists graduate from K-State and they tend to leave Manhattan because they don't have a space, they don't have anywhere to either show their work or even work. Um, so that's what we want to do. Our long term is to build a commune where we can host residencies, um, have bigger spaces for artists, and we can also teach classes, all kinds. Um, at the moment, we're working on just events, trying to raise some funds. Uh, we also are working with UFM. Um on we teach there, we teach pottery. Me and my partner teach pottery there. So that's one of our classes that we we are fostering to teach. We teach children, we teach adults, and we want to expand that. We want to expand that through the community. Um, um, this is all done for the community. Um, so we keep we keep our prices low and probably even nothing if we can afford that, right? Um clay is expensive and art supplies are expensive. So we always always ask for donations and stuff like that from the community, community help, um, because this is for them. Um so uh all in all we we are trying to create events now so that we can bring all the artists out together. Um that is one of the events that we're working on now, Colores de mi corazón with Alex Garcia, um, good friend. It was a great idea, me being Hispanic myself. Um, and I never had a space to express my culture and my heritage. Um, and then I get to combine that maybe with my mental health issues and being in the military and stuff in my experiences. Um, so this is a great opportunity for us that she uh they have brought for us um to us, and I'm so happy to work with them in this venture.
The Founders And Local Artist Paths
SPEAKER_01Let's get a little background on you, Pedro, because you're from New Jersey.
SPEAKER_00I am, yes.
SPEAKER_01And you served in the military, I believe you told me 17 years. 17 years. You ended up at Fort Riley, and you're still here.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, um, I I always I always say uh Manhattan has adopted me, right? Uh so I I want to give back. We can be that way. Yes, definitely. Uh it's great being out here. I love it. I love the people. People are friendly. Um, I I started another business. It's called the um The Witch and the Geek, and we sell pottery. And we have become, I I like to say Manhattan famous. My my partner hates when I say that. But everywhere I go, people are like, oh my God, yeah, the witch and the geek. And oh, do you know that? Of course I do. Oh, no, see? Everywhere I go, I get the same thing. You know, I saw that. Do you have a retail outlet? Uh we don't. We do have consignments in the mall at um That's where I've seen. And we also have a consignment at the Village Geek downtown, um, which is a great opportunity. We are thinking about opening up a store, but that's I got too much going on with the makers guild right now, so that's that's uh another process. Um, I love starting businesses, but I need to take it slow. I'm putting too much on my plate right now. I'm too old for that.
SPEAKER_01Oh. No, you're not. No, you're not. I know the difference.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Alex, let's uh let's get your background story first before we start talking about uh how you got involved in the board, other than that simple process.
SPEAKER_02So I am not a local. I'm from Florida, from Miami. Uh my husband's military. We ended up here. And kind of like Pedro, love the community immediately. Again, Miami. So not used to very friendly people. Everyone here is what I guess I've learned is called the Midwest friendly. Oh my gosh, it's amazing. I love it. I when I first moved here, I was pregnant and my husband was deployed. And um, just two random college students saw me trying to put a table in my car that I had purchased, and they were like, here, let me go inside of my house. I'm gonna grab my tool bug, take this apart, show you how to put it back together when you're home, and make sure you ask your neighbor for help. I was like, we'll see. Thank you. So I just I really love this community. I just kind of stumbled across it when I was, you know, here with my husband. So um, very quickly have found places uh through the Makers Guild and knowing other artists here, meeting them through Pedro and Nikki, the founders. Um, so it's been awesome. I I really love it here, but not much of my background, just a Florida Floridian traveling.
SPEAKER_01Tell me about your art.
SPEAKER_02Uh so I am a mixed media artist. I do paintings and lino cut. Um, those are my main two forms of art. Um, I like to make pretty things out of really hard subjects. So um I don't know how to explain this, but just like facing things that are hard in my life with the things that I can still find beauty in, um, and finding a way for those things to be palatable, not just for other people, but for my own brain. Because I have to face it anyways, so I may as well confront it with a smile.
SPEAKER_01Now, how long have you and your husband been here?
SPEAKER_02So this is our we we just hit two and a half years. Okay. All right. Um, so unfortunately, we'll probably be leaving next year or the following.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh I hate to go.
SPEAKER_01I tried to convince him to just We also are well aware of, you know, the role of the military spouse. And, you know, and and uh, you know, we're very grateful around here. And I think that you've seen that that we're very welcoming when it comes to those that that are serving our country. We're also very grateful for for those that
Pottery Mental Health And Veterans
SPEAKER_01serve. And and and Pedro, you made a a comment about uh uh your art and one of the things that you hope to be able to do, and that is to provide some uh some help in the mental health world, because I think artists by nature are very sensitive.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01And there's there's a lot of things that we all, you know, if you have an artistic you know, cell in your body, there's all kinds of things that come into play when it comes to art, you know, and your this is your avenue for talking about some of the things that that you find challenging. And and how are you utilizing your art and the makers guild into providing some relief for for you and others with regards to your mental health?
SPEAKER_00So part of it, first of all, like it was something I didn't want to do, but once I got into it and got used to it, um it I I would say it was the second thing in my life that that saved my life. Right. Um I I've been in the military since 94, I was 19 years old. I seen the ugly, and it it's it was a hard, it's been a hard life since. But century myself when I do pottery, it it takes me out of that um that world, right? Because I need to focus. But then I also do charcoal drawings, which helps me express what I'm feeling. And I always say my art is like a mirror, right? So I tell people, look at my art and tell me what it tells you. I can tell you my story, but my story is not the same as yours. So you need to see what it tells you. I've had people tell me to put it away because they're scared of it. I have because they're scared of what it's telling them about themselves, and I've had people cry over what they see, right? And and it's very mental health is very important. So I I figure I need to help more people with this, right? Um and one of my goals is to help veterans find their voice, right? Um, anybody can do art, anybody can can do pottery. Um, there's this guy on um, and I believe he's an um a veteran as well that does pottery and he's missing both his hands and and he does some beautiful work, right? So, you know, I I wanna help vets know that there's there's there's more to life, right? Um I wake up and and and I don't know if this will be too dark, but I wake up in a study of suicide every day, right? It helps me to talk to people, it helps me to watch videos, laugh, then I get out of bed and I'm good to go, right? Um a lot of us don't have that outlet, right? And then my art helps me just express, right? And so talking to my therapist, they offer me the opportunity to help me talk to the VA so that we can get some funding to help veterans so they can come take some of our classes and I can teach them with any disability they might have, whether it's physical or mentally, they can make some art. They can do something to express themselves and let these um these voices or these images in their head out, right? And then people can see what they're going through, right? Because a lot of times we talk to people and they don't understand. People don't understand.
SPEAKER_01You know, and I appreciate what you're saying greatly because you know, and and you may or may not know this or even believe it, but it takes a tremendous amount of strength to be able to talk about these strength these concerns that you have, some of the challenges that you face every morning when that alarm goes off, and and what your mindset is and how you're going to push through that next day. It takes a lot to to share that, especially in a public vein like you know, on radio.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Uh it took me a long time to get here. It really did. Um, a long time, five different therapists, uh meds out the wazoo, you know, and but I've been there, dude. Yeah, I I feel that I started feeling that I need to I need to help. I need to help others, you know what I mean, because um we're not alone. Yeah, right. We're not alone in this fight. Um and it's scary, it's a scary situation. So I I had to face my demons. Um they're there, right? They're a part of my life, and there's nothing I can do about that. So I need to help others, you know, vets and non-vets, because everybody goes through it. And I want to help them realize that it's just a part of life and it doesn't define you, right? But it can help you move forward in life.
Colores De Mi Corazón Exhibit Details
SPEAKER_01Alex, you have an art exhibit coming up, and I and I hate to jump Pedro quickly from one topic to the other, but we are limited on time. But there's an art exhibit coming up. Tell us about this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so uh Colores de mi corazón is a love letter to our heritage. Um okay, I didn't write this down, but when I came to Kansas, I found all of these businesses that are run by Hispanic people. When I walk around, I don't see like us on the streets, I guess. Like I don't I don't see us, but I know we're here. So I kind of wanted to make an opportunity for the community, the locals, to experience like Hispanic and Latino culture and hear these stories and see the talent in a way that maybe they wouldn't normally be able to explore on their own. Uh, it's not easy to find Hispanic people sometimes, Latino people we like to hide. I don't know, it's just in our nature, I guess.
SPEAKER_01But the Makers Guild is not exclusive to one language, one culture.
SPEAKER_02No, no. By any means. So the Makers Guild itself is open to everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And um in a way, this exhibit itself is open to everybody. We actually really wanted to focus on making it accessible. So it's in a public space, it's going to be free to enter. We're gonna have a bunch of different um artists' talks. That way they can hear about the art, they can learn about it without any barriers of a typical gallery experience.
SPEAKER_01When and where?
SPEAKER_02It's going to be in uh underneath Switch Wicked in that hallway next to Equilibrium. It's a public gallery space. Um, so that is where it's going to be. And it starts October 9th, and we will have the art up until January 11th.
SPEAKER_01Oh, cool.
SPEAKER_02So the first four days of the exhibit, we're going to have an opening where we'll have artist talks, some cultural performances, and things like that. Um, but past then, you'll just be able to experience the art without any nervousness of people.
SPEAKER_01Define cultural performances for me.
SPEAKER_02So very exciting. We are working with um the Jose Estrada Band, a band out in Wichita. They are a Gecano jazz band, and they're going to come out and give us some performances. They're gonna play their music, they're a six-piece band.
SPEAKER_01Sounds like fun.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna be great. I love their music, it's good. Um, and then aside from that, we just booked Joscar Medina. Uh, he is a Hispanic poet in Kansas. Uh, so he's he's a local. Um, but he is going to come out and perform some of his poems in both English and Spanish. And then to kind of have something more traditional, we're working right now to try and book a dance troupe. They're Falorico. It's a Mexican dance. Um, it's a traditional dance, and then to kind of highlight some of the subcultures in Hispanic and Latino uh worlds. I'm currently talking to a low riders group to try and get some cars for display.
SPEAKER_01Fun. Yeah. Fun. We're running a little short on time, so we just kind of want to wrap this up here.
Classes Donations And Website
SPEAKER_01You do have classes. Does that go through UFM?
SPEAKER_00Yes, we teach classes at UFM. We teach pottery classes at the moment. Um, that is all we're teaching at the moment, but we are um planning on expanding to other arts like painting and drawing.
SPEAKER_01Okay. The website is themakersguildinc.com. And it's not INK, it's INC. It's incorporated. Incorporated. The Makers Guild Inc. You know, with Art and Inc., you gotta be clarified. You know, you've got to clarify that. His name is Pedro Melendez. She is Alex Garcia. Thank you both for sharing your stories and then also uh and telling us more about the Makers Guild. This is uh this will be cool. Thank you for having me. Looking forward to it. Thank you. When we come back, Jaina is gonna be stepping in the studio. We're gonna be talking about some things that are happening in the community in just a couple of moments here on the GMCF Community Hour, here on News Radio KMAN.