Women Who Build: Artists Who Own

Meet-up 2 Summary & New Members to Do

*in an effort to document the project, Yvonne Shortt recounted what happened during this second meet-up


For this meeting we set the capacity to 25 because we had limited space. The meet-up filled up quickly, so we created a second meeting on the same day and called it "spill over."  This meet-up happened 1.5 hours after the first.   When people arrived for the second meeting, I explained the project at a back table and then sent the "spill over" group to various teams, where the team coordinator helped them understand and get acclimated to each team.  

In total, we had around 40 people. We also received some press from the "Forest Hills Times" based on a post put on our Facebook page.


We learned that for these two meet ups (November/December), it looked like 30 percent of the people who said they would come were a "no show."  This means I will set the meet-up 30 percent higher in capacity going forward.


  1. Review Guiding principles

  2. Work on Core Structure

  3. Assign tasks

  4. Set next meet up

1. Resolve issues


Some of the core members did not want men on the team. However, the first meeting only had 12 women, so I wanted to do another tally of this.  It was agreed to make this primarily a women build but to allow between 5-10 percent of participants to be men. We have agreed to have some "all-women" build days. We have also agreed to document how this primarily all-women build is effecting the men on the teams. Are they learning new ways to interact with women? Are we adjusting our interactions because they are present?


We noticed a need to make sure that each team has a committee coordinator. The role of the coordinator is to make sure that tasks are allocated and a time to have them completed is determined.  We also decided to create a documentation team and have someone coordinate this team.

Work in Committee


  • Fundraising - Members were tasked with coming up with different fundraising ideas

  • Marketing - It was determined that they needed an information sheet to get the word out.  They also decided to create a pr working group since one women had pr skills. The sub PR teams is largely responsible for reaching out to the media and the press. This team will create a press list and start pitching to them.

  • Sourcing Expertise and Materials - Because the sourcing coordinator had to leave early, we did not have someone to lead this team. It was agreed to have people go to other teams and build this team with an internal coordinator for the next meeting.

  • Design -  The design is almost locked down.  We have limited funding, so we will attempt to use windows and doors that are standard measurement. We also agreed to purchase some plans and videos.  We will use the plans as a guide to create our construction documents based on our own original design. Many people want to be on this team, but as this is a core team it was agreed that only people with experience in design, construction, plumbing, or electrical work should be on this team.

  • Project Management - We are currently managing this internally to get a feel for what is and isn't working..

  • Volunteer Coordination -  Since we do not have enough coordinators, it is agreed to merge this group with marketing.

  • Documenting - This group agreed to record the general meetings and photograph the participants

  • Skill Building - People were tasked with creating a "how-to" for the miter saw and nail gun. We also have had someone working on creating a design plan for a mini mini house that is 4x6 feet. We are thinking we can use this as a way to get the skills we need to build a real house. We have made a note to buy a miter saw and nail gun.  We have no funding at this time, so we will buy it on credit. 

  • Research - Research communities, housing costs, average salary info, and creative solutions around creative space, home ownership, and rent. Currently, one member has expressed interest in this team. We do not a have a volunteer lead, so I will give this member one task and see if she completes it.

3. Additional notes

- ​We will need a legal team. Until this happens we will take on coordinating this team. We know we need to create a photography release and liability waver.

4. Review expectations with Participants


  1. Attend monthly meeting

  2. Commit / participate 2 - 3 times a month in your working group (meeting, skype/phone discussion etc) (total 6 hours a month)

  3. Please think of two women you think would benefit from this project, and forward this PDF to them to see if we can bring on more women. Have a conversation with them and ask if they'd like to join the next meet-up.

Next meet-up

Saturday, January 14th, 10am

At RPGA Studio 43-01 22nd Street, Suite 252 LIC, NY 11101

How to get involved

To be alerted of a meetup date go here

https://www.meetup.com/NYC-Tiny-Housebuild-Empowering-Women-Girls-Meetup/For additional


Questions call 

RPGA Studio