ANCHOR: Our Story, Our Mission, Your Drive

Our Story

Providence has a growing population of individuals, small design firms and entrepreneurs. Most of them are hoping to participate in expanding the economy in Rhode Island while getting involved with other professionals through collaborative projects. Although many spaces are available around the city, a majority of these locations lack vibrancy and community.

Our Mission

We have built ANCHOR to be an inspirational, energetic place to connect with others and work on extraordinary projects. Companies and individuals who desire the focus and ability to execute their ideas in a productive working atmosphere need look no further than ANCHOR. We are specifically designed to draw people and groups together in order to share both ideas and inspiration, as well as to give tenants the opportunity for collaborative work if they are feeling overwhelmed, bogged down, or worn out.

Your Drive

ANCHOR is a place where you can see your concept through from your initial idea to bringing your end product to market. At 42 Rice Street, you are adjacent to the Ecolect Materials Library with physical samples on hand of ecologically minded materials, and Keeseh Studio, a community woodshop that offers time on fabrication equipment, including a CNC router. With these facilities on location, the possibilities are endless: graphic designers can make signage or design and fabricate trade show booths’s; industrial designers have the ability to make models, construct furniture, or prototype a design idea by utilizing the shop; architects and interior architects can make scale model mock-ups. Whatever your idea, ANCHOR provides you with the support necessary to accomplish your goal.

About the team

Matt Grigsby
ANCHOR Co-founder

Matt Grigsby is an entrepreneur who has a background in Industrial Design and Transportation. His company, Ecolect, provides resources to achieve sustainable design by integrating many different disciplines, including architecture, industrial design, fashion, engineering, and construction. In 2010, Ecolect was invited to display its work at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum located in New York City. The show, entitled Why Design Now?, is the fourth installation in the National Design Triennial exhibition series. Matt has successfully completed projects for several Fortune 500 companies such as Schick and Hasbro.

Asher Dunn
ANCHOR Co-founder

Asher Dunn is the founder of Keeseh Studio, a community woodshop serving as a resource for Rhode Island’s creative community. Designed for woodworking, experimenting, and prototyping with access to machinery, tools, and workspace, the shop welcomes a wide range of people – from those who have no experience and are looking to learn, to professionals wishing to engage with other link-minded individuals and establish a network. Asher is also founder of his own furniture company, Studio DUNN, which earned ‘Best New Designer’ of 2010 at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair).