A Place to Create, Fail, and Learn

America in the 21^st century has become a throw-away society. Because we weren’t taught to or can’t be bothered to learn to fix things, we simply throw away anything that’s broken and toddle out to buy a replacement. The result is that our landfills are overflowing, and our bank accounts are overstretched.
The Welman Project is trying to do something to fix that.

If you’re a teacher in Fort Worth, you know what The Welman Project is. Taylor Willis and Vanessa Barker took an idea for a way to upcycle business supplies and materials to help local teachers and have built it from a tiny nonprofit run out of their living rooms into a creative reuse empire.

Taylor and Vanessa are both proud products of the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD). Their mutual interest in helping the planet was sparked by their seventh-grade science teacher at William James Middle School, Mr. Sill. “We joined his Eco Club, and it was his passion and excitement for taking care of our planet that made us more conscious of that at a young age and into our adulthood,” Vanessa, the more voluable of the two, remembered.

Both women have had a variety of jobs over the years. Vanessa said that her dual passions of creative reuse and helping teachers was born when she was both working in the fashion industry in New York and teaching preschool in San Francisco.

“I was working in NY and was also teaching in San Francisco, flying back and forth, and I saw a lot of waste in one arena, which was the fashion world, and a lot of want in the other, which was the preschool world.”

Barb the Bus; photo courtesy of The Welman Project

In 2015, the friends were both back in Fort Worth, and they decided “that reducing waste and increasing resources in schools sounded like a good time,” so they started The Welman Project out of their living rooms. 2016 saw the move from their homes into a 10×20 storage unit, and then they slowly started taking over the old gym at the First Congregational Church. They held their first Teacher Tailgate in 2017, and Barb the Bus made her debut in 2018.

As the duo were listing their previous locations, Vanessa started giggling. “In 2020, we decided it would be really cool to find a pandemic!” COVID hit local teachers hard, and The Welman Project did all they could to help turn living rooms and dining rooms into virtual classrooms. They put together hands-on learning kits for FWISD middle schooler and made a lot of book deliveries. In their spare time, they found a new location that could support their dreams of expansion and had heating and air conditioning.

Now happily settled in their location on West Vickery, The Welman Project has the space to really grow. Not only do they have a greatly expanded (and air conditioned!) Educators Warehouse full of goodies that are completely free to teachers, they have a Teachers’ Lounge where teachers can gather, have an adult beverage, and collaborate. Out front, the Curiosity Shop, or what Vanessa calls a “funky-weird” collection of incredible finds, will spark the imaginations even the most creatively-impaired among us.

(That’s me. I’m completely creatively impaired, and I came away wanting to nothing but create.)

Photo courtesy of The Welman Project

They also have a brand spankin’ new Makerspace. This space, sponsored by the JLFW, Rotary Club of Fort Worth, and Meta, is the perfect place for teachers, for students, and for the community to create, experiment, fail, and learn. Because the best way to learn is through failing and trying again.

“Taylor and I both grew up in our dads’ garages,” said Vanessa, as we sat in the Teachers’ Lounge. “[The Makerspace] is our homage to the dads and that generation who gave their young daughters a screwdriver and taught them how to use it. That’s the thing we do in our camps and classes, too.”

One of the first classes The Welman Project ran was The Secret Society of the Imaginari. Vanessa explained that she wanted to do something that wasn’t an art class; she wanted to introduce children to new skills, new tools, and seeing a creative idea through from start to finish.

“In the Imaginari Society, we have a six year old who now knows how to use a drill. She knows how to use a wood burner. She knows how to use a cutting board – you know, all these things you think, ‘Oh no! A six-year-old kid shouldn’t do that!’ But they are! They’re doing it in a controlled, safe environment, and we’re raising the next generation of people who can fix things instead of buying new.”

As talented as Taylor and Vanessa are, they can’t run The Welman Project by themselves. They have a team of dedicated volunteers who help keep the Warehouse running and now are working in the Curiosity Shop and the Makerspace. One of the things they are most excited about is a grant from AmeriCorps Seniors.

Photo courtesy of The Welman Project

“We got grant funding from AmeriCorp Seniors which is really exciting,” said Taylor. “Starting in July, we are looking specifically for senior volunteers to work in our Educator Warehouse and in the Makerspace because there’s just so much experience there. We’re excited to have them come hang out and help teachers with their projects and help with workshops and pass down their knowledge and skills.”

All the revenue from the Curiosity Shop and the Makerspace goes back into The Welman Project’s goal of supporting local educators.

“There’s a lot of talk about what we can for teacher retention. Why are teachers leaving in droves?” Vanessa asked. “There’s a lot of answers for that, depending on who you talk to. There’s a lot of discussion around pay, which obviously would not hurt. They should be paid more! I mean, it’s truly shocking – they’re literally shaping our future. This is our Fort Worth workforce that they are tasked with teaching… But talking with our teachers, they say, ‘We knew what we were getting into financially. We knew what this country thought of us in terms of our paycheck. It’s the respect we don’t have.’ They want the respect back. We’re hoping that by opening our doors to the community that the teachers can feel that respect again.”