Chimera's History
Founding & Early Days
Chimera was founded in early 2012 by Dana Woodman and a small group of people who had a vision for Sonoma County and what it could become. We founded Chimera both as a space to create and a hub for the creative community in this area.
For the first few months of our history, we grew our community from a few friends to a group of over 800 people. We quickly realized that Sonoma County and the North Bay was craving a space like Chimera, so we set making the dream a reality.
Ford Garage
After searching for a space, the Chimera founders settled on the old Ford Garage building in downtown Sebastopol.
Our initial momentum slowed when the realities of the space we had chosen became clear. The City of Sebastopol required us to install fire sprinklers and emergency access doors into our main, 5,000 sq.ft. space before opening.
Luckily our landlord was a believer in our mission and decided to undertake the renovations himself.
Today
We opened for membership in December 2013 after getting our business license and insurance.
We’re operating in our smaller, 700 sq.ft. mini-makerspace in the back lot of the Ford Garage until the main space is ready for us to move in.
Tomorrow
Our story is continually evolving and if we remember, we’ll keep this page updated as we go!