MAKE.HISTORY

Make.Shift is a 501(c)3 Non Profit formed in 2008. The organization was started with the modest goal of being a support network for local bands. Flagship programs in the early days were The Magic Van, and bike generator program. With the initial mission of supporting local musicians and lightening their environmental impact, our biodiesel van was free to local musicians who didn’t have a touring van, helping more than a dozen local bands tour as far away as California and Idaho. Make.Shift soon added the Power Wheels program — two bicycle-powered generators that powered dozens of live shows and events. For years Make.Shift was run out of volunteers’ homes while we searched for a central headquarters.

October 2011 saw Make.Shift move into the former Jinx Art Space at 306 Flora. This move opened up the doors for more Make.shift projects. Currently we are a studio space for artists and musicians, we run substance free all-ages concerts, monthly art walks in our gallery space, and are home to a low power community radio station, KZAX 94.9 fm. 

MAKE.NEWS

• Tune in! Local independent radio is alive and well, Salish Current, Jan 27, 2023.

• Your body is not an anomaly: ‘These Temporary Homes,’ a collection of paintings representing the beauty in queer and trans bodies done by local artist Blaire Sebren, is on display in the Make.Shift Art Space gallery, The Front, Jan 26, 2023.

• ‘Recovery is a journey, not a destination.’ These murals comfort people in crisis, Bellingham Herald, Nov 1, 2022.

• Calming art in unlikely spaces: 3 artists brighten Crisis Stabilization Center, Cascadia Daily News, Sept 20, 2022.

• Make.Shift: An art space for everyone, Cascadia Daily News, Aug 10, 2022.

• The House is Open, Whatcom Talk, June 14, 2022.

• A Fresh Facade for Downtown Bellingham, Bellingham Alive, March 18, 2022.

• PSA with ASP: Art Episode 4 with Jessyca Murphy, Executive Director of Make.Shift Art Space, AS Productions, April 16, 2021

• Gray Matter: A Fond Farewell at Make.Shift, Cascadia Weekly, December 30, 2020

• Sweet Relief - Funding the Arts Cascadia Weekly April 1, 2020

• KZAX Fund Drive: Driving For Dollars Cascadia Weekly April 22, 2020

• Bellingham Art Walk goes virtual during COVID-19 The Western Front May 20, 2020

• Bellingham keeps playing, painting, dancing The Western Front June 1, 2020

• A Birthday Broadcast: KZAX Turns Four Cascadia Weekly June 17, 2020

• A Make.Shift Memo Cascadia Weekly September 16, 2020

• KZAX: Show Them The Money Cascadia Weekly October 14, 2020

• On Intermission: A photo gallery extension of “The Show Must Go On”… Klipsun Magazine December 17, 2020

• Make.Shift continues to provide an escape for artists, Western Front, October 3, 2018

• 11 Questions with Mark Miyake, What’s Up Magazine, September 11, 2018

• Music and Art at Make.Shift Art Space in Bellingham, Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism Insider Blog, August 14, 2017

• New Make.Shift Radio Station Makes (Air)Waves, AS Review, May 30, 2017

• Make.Shift supports arts and music scene, Bellingham Herald, November 11, 2015