By Jud Fisher, President/CEO, Ball Brothers Foundation—
MUNCIE, IN — Walk to the corner of Madison and Jackson in downtown Muncie, and you’ll find people welding, sewing, brewing beer, hanging from aerial silks, and pitching new business ideas, all under the same roof and sometimes on the same night.
Ten years ago, that same 80,000-square-foot building sat empty, a former industrial laundry facility with no clear future. Today, it’s MadJax Maker Force, one of downtown Muncie’s most surprising spaces, a growing hub for making, entrepreneurship, and community gathering that more people are discovering every month.
Where MadJax Started
When Cintas no longer needed the facility, the building became vacant, underused, and easy to overlook. In 2015, a group of community members saw something different: a chance to turn a massive, empty structure into a hub for making, building, learning, and connecting. Over the next several years, MadJax grew and evolved in real time, as spaces were built out, early tenants and makers moved in, and programs and activities began taking shape.
When Executive Director Carly Acree-King joined MadJax in 2024, she stepped into an organization that had spent nearly a decade finding its footing and building its foundation. Over the past year, MadJax has entered a new phase of growth and continues to refine its identity and programming. Today, MadJax is a hub of activity with co-working spaces for locals who need a landing place to work, maker labs, art studios, program and activity spaces, and much more.
One Roof, Many Ways In
MadJax was built to have more than one entry point, so that no matter who someone is or what they’re curious about, there’s a way to get involved.
For those ready to work with their hands regularly, a monthly Maker Space membership (ranging from $20-$35/month) opens access to two connected spaces on the first floor. The Design Lab is equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, sewing machines, and a soldering station. Next door is the Shipyard, known at MadJax as the “Dirty Lab,” home to a wood shop and welding station for larger builds. Memberships are available for individuals, students, and families or small businesses
Upstairs, MadJax’s second floor Art Studios offer another kind of creative space. Artists can rent private studios for dedicated workspace or use a shared drop-in space for more flexible access. The studios give artists and makers room to paint, draw, work with textiles, create mixed-media pieces, and pursue other creative projects. It’s another way for people to create at MadJax without needing the equipment found in the Maker Space.
For those who need a place to work rather than build, the CO:LAB coworking space offers a professional home base for entrepreneurs and freelancers, with options ranging from a single day pass to a dedicated desk or private office.
People who want to try something before committing to any membership can start with a class. MadJax’s rotating workshop calendar covers everything from laser cutting and sewing to woodturning, welding fundamentals, and stained glass, giving newcomers a low-pressure way to test out a new skill. Meeting rooms and event space are also available to rent while the TOOLSONG Gallery offers rotating exhibitions of regional artists, free and open to the public.
The work coming out of the first floor has quietly touched projects across Muncie. Members have built props and set pieces for Muncie Civic Theatre productions, including staging for Civic’s recent production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Others have used the space to build custom furniture, some of which has been transported as far as New York for installation, or to alter clothing and build custom bar tops for local businesses.
“This is giving access to hands-on learning, to building, and to making,” Acree-King said. For many members, it’s a chance to pick up a skill, like reading a tape measure or using a saw, that isn’t always part of a standard education anymore.
Progress
Behind MadJax’s recent growth is a deliberate investment in the systems that keep an organization running. When Acree-King joined the organization in late 2024, the Maker Space had fewer than 20 members. Today, that number has grown to around 100. Acree-King credits the shift not to any single event, but to the steady work of building those systems behind the scenes.
The board’s investment in strong internal systems, staffing, policies, and operations that aren’t always visible from the outside has made everything else possible.
Over the past decade, Ball Brothers Foundation has awarded MadJax nearly $2 million in general operating support, giving the organization room to strengthen its internal systems while also expanding its public-facing programming.
Learning by Doing
MadJax has become an unexpected classroom, not just for the students who study there, but for the retirees, hobbyists, and entrepreneurs working alongside them. Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning operates a lab on MadJax’s first floor, and this semester, three classes are being held on-site.
That overlap is part of what makes MadJax different. Someone learning to weld for the first time in their 70s might be working next to a college student just starting out in architecture, both using the same tools toward very different goals. It’s a kind of mixing that Acree-King says is unique in the community.
That partnership has also led to some memorable outcomes. One Ball State student, introduced to MadJax through a class, later returned as an individual member and used the Shipyard’s large fabrication space to build a custom camper shell for his truck. He drove it to Colorado and back and lives in it today.
More Than One Kind of Maker
Part of what makes MadJax distinct is the range of businesses that call it home. One unique representation of what it means to be a ‘maker’ is The Guardian Brewery. What started as two people brewing beer in a garage has grown into one of MadJax’s anchor tenants and a popular downtown hangout. Having food and drink on site makes it easy for MadJax to host events that might not otherwise be possible in a typical building, and the courtyard adds another layer, giving Guardian a home for a summer concert series that draws people in for live music.
Elsewhere in the building, hair stylists and a tattoo artist run small salons, and Aerial Annex offers aerial silks classes and performances in a space with ceilings tall enough to make that possible. Beyond I Can, a day program for individuals with disabilities operates a creative enrichment space where visitors can shop items made on-site.
Community programming rounds out the mix and is often the easiest way to discover MadJax. Throughout the year, the building hosts First Thursday activities, live music and performances, markets, educational programs, and other public gatherings. The building has hosted everything from private events tied to state and national conventions to informal open-studio nights where members and the public can drop in and work on a project with no commitment required. These events double as a front door, providing low-pressure ways for people to walk in, see what MadJax is, and find their own reason to come back.
What’s Next
“Our community is rethinking the way it supports and acknowledges the arts and culture sector,” Acree-King said. She pointed to the growing focus on downtown Muncie’s Creative Corridor, a shift she sees echoed in downtown cores across the state as they lean into creativity, innovation, and tourism as economic drivers.
For MadJax, the next chapter is about connecting creativity with opportunity. The organization is exploring how its spaces, programs, and partnerships can more intentionally support artists, makers, entrepreneurs, students, and people building new skills.
That means creating stronger connections between making, learning, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Someone might first walk through the doors for a community event or class, then discover the Maker Space, rent an art studio, test a product, or find a place to grow a business.
MadJax is also looking at how its 80,000-square-foot building can continue to serve as a community asset. As the organization plans for its future, the goal isn’t simply to fill the building. It’s to create more opportunities for people to learn, create, connect, and turn ideas into something tangible. A building once seen as vacant is now activated.
There’s no single way to experience MadJax. Visitors can stop by for a bite to eat, attend a community event, take a class, become a member, or explore its business space. The doors are open.
About Ball Brothers Foundation & MadJax Maker Force
Ball Brothers Foundation’s support for MadJax (via the nonprofit organization Sustainable Muncie Corporation) dates back to 2015. Funding builds on the foundation—and the region’s—industrial heritage and the foundation’s belief in the power of a new generation of entrepreneurs, artisans, and industrialists who will help to move Muncie, East Central Indiana, and Indiana forward. With its prominent location in downtown Muncie and the emerging Creative Corridor, MadJax brings vitality and creative energy to the core of the city.
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