Makers in Residence

Portland’s design culture is defined by its makers—people who build, experiment, and work directly with materials.

We see makers everywhere in Portland: at craft fairs, in local shops, and inside some of the most interesting homes in the city. For NestFest, we want to bring that creativity into a new context—and give makers room to think bigger and connect face to face with the people shaping Portland’s home design community.

NestFest is inviting a curated group of makers to create immersive, design-forward spaces that show how their work transforms a space—not just as an object for sale, but as an essential part of how a space feels, functions, and comes to life.

We’re looking for makers who are excited by a creative challenge: people who want to stretch their practice, apply their work at scale, and collaborate with a space as the medium.

You bring:
Your ideas, your point of view, and your work. A commitment to push beyond a tabletop or display and create something experiential, thoughtful, and visually compelling.

We bring:
The space—and a large, engaged audience of designers, builders, architects, retailers, and home design enthusiasts gathering for two full days to experience your work. We also provide marketing assets, professional photography of your activation, promotion across Nester platforms, and a feature in Willamette Week.

This is not a market. It’s a platform—for visibility, experimentation, and connection with the people shaping Portland’s design community.

Theme: Between Worlds

Between Worlds explores the space where inside life and the outside world overlap—not literally, but sensorially, structurally, and emotionally. This theme invites makers to interpret how natural systems, rhythms, and forces show up in crafted form, shaping how a space feels, moves, and functions.

Rather than bringing the outdoors inside, makers are encouraged to translate it: through material choices, colors, repetition, pattern, light, texture, scale, or process. We’re excited by spaces that sit in reminder of the world beyond its walls.

Guiding ideas

  • Nature as influence, not ornament

  • Boundaries that soften, shift, or dissolve

  • Spaces that feel contained yet expansive

NestFest will be able to provide the walls (specs tk). Your job is to build out an immersive space.

Below are found images showcasing how an immersive display could look.