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Meet our Founder

J. Alan Shelton

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​My specialty is helping people organize the chaos of starting makerspaces in their communities, training the trainers in maker communities, guiding administrators through developing makerspace resources, and maintaining makerspace resources.​
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My Expertise

​In 2014, I set out to find a community of makers who would work together to build a makerspace in Winston-Salem, NC. Mixxer Community Makerspace opened in 2018 and has shown significant growth and success in the years since. I had help from many people, and today, other people and I make decisions to maintain that growth trajectory.

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You can learn more about Mixxer Community Makerspace here.

 

I am passionate about empowering makers, artists, makerpreneurs, and creative community spaces. I would love to learn about your creative community space or makerspace ideas, and help you find and leverage your resources for a more successful creative community space.

My Story

I've been a creative person since childhood. I was the kid who took things apart to see how they worked, and spent hours designing my dream home or custom car I would build when I grew up. When I grew up I was able to accomplish the grown-up version of those things, and I've been lucky enough to learn from many talented artists, designers, architects, engineers, and business-minded mentors.

 

In my twenties, I built race cars. In my thirties I build my first house and custom motorcycles. In my forties I played a key part in building Mixxer Community Makerspace in Winston-Salem, NC. Now, in my fifties, I am creating arts and fire based experiences, and mentoring other makers and the people who support them.

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I love metal sculpture and metal fabrication. I enjoy print-making and want to continue to build my skillset and understanding of the art. My retirement plan is to die a happy person who successfully helped create the conditions where more artists and creative people can meet their potential and get paid well through their creativity. 

Our Team

Creative Community Spaces is a division of Venture Cats, Inc. Currently, we only have one employee, and hire specialists to perform specialized tasks for clients. This minimizes overhead costs and eliminates our need to generate revenue without generating value for our clients. This company will grow by prioritizing value to our clients.

 

Venture Cats, Inc. manages relationships with creative and tech-savvy people to connect you and your organization to the valuable knowledge and skills they possess. 

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If you would like to be one of our specialists, please reach out to us and tell us about your skillset. We are always looking for talented people who value creative communities and their resources. We work with talented makers to connect them with other creatives to build a creative community across the southeastern USA.

Contact

I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to support creatives and creativity. Let's connect.

336.250.0532

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