DaVinci's Crew

Put Your Skills Back to Work: Join DaVinci’s Crew

The Modern Guild: Purpose, Skill, and Mutual Aid

DaVinci’s Crew is an informal workshop cooperative based at Lago Luna Metal Art Studio in Buffalo Junction, Virginia, where retired engineers, tradesmen, and craftsmen collaborate on metal sculpture projects in exchange for shop and equipment access.

Fine metalcraft and architectural sculpture demand more than artistic vision—they require structural calculation, mechanical problem-solving, and disciplined execution. Anchored at Lago Luna Metal Art Studio in rural Southside Virginia, DaVinci’s Crew is an informal workshop cooperative founded on the belief that seasoned craftsmanship and sharp technical minds never truly retire.

Across our region lives a remarkable community of retired machinists, career tradesmen, engineers, and active minds that like to work with their hands. DaVinci’s Crew brings these makers back into the shop, creating an environment where decades of hard-won experience find active, creative application.

How the Collaboration Works

DaVinci’s Crew functions on a traditional guild model of sweat equity and mutual exchange, designed specifically for a flexible retirement lifestyle:

• Collaborative Studio Fabrication: Members lend hands-on assistance with ambitious studio builds—ranging from large-scale kinetic installations and balance mechanics to architectural fixtures, intricate jig-building, and fine metal restorations.

• Open Tool and Bench Access: In exchange for their insight and labor on studio projects, members gain access to Lago Luna’s dedicated metalworking machinery, layout tables, and specialized finishing equipment for their own personal builds.

• Sovereign Schedules: There are no shifts, dues, or rigid obligations. Members drop in when personal calendars allow, contributing around family life, travel, and personal priorities.

The Culture of the Build Table

Beyond the plasma torches, grinders, and layout tables, DaVinci’s Crew offers genuine camaraderie. It is the simple, grounded satisfaction of gathering around a workbench with a cup of coffee, diagnosing a mechanical challenge, reading blueprints, and building something substantial with people who speak the same technical language.

Whether restoring a historic metal fixture alongside craftsmen like Lucky Covati or fine-tuning the pivot tolerances on a kinetic wing assembly, the crew turns idle retirement into productive creation.

Connect with the Crew

If you have a background in engineering, machining, building, fine craft, or design and are looking for a well-equipped shop to put your hands and mind back to work, the studio door in Buffalo Junction is open.

Stop by to see what is currently clamped to the build table, or contact Marc Staples through our contact page to learn more about getting involved.

• Who can join DaVinci’s Crew? Retired or experienced engineers, fine art craftsmen, fabricators, machinists, designers, and tradesmen.

• Is there a membership fee or required schedule? No. Membership is based on sweat equity and mutual exchange, with entirely flexible hours.

• Where does the crew meet? At Lago Luna Metal Art Studio in Buffalo Junction, Virginia.