Open Works

Open Works is a newly established community-based makerspace in the Greenmount West Neighborhood District of Baltimore, Maryland. The space, located in a completely renovated building especially designed as a makerspace, encompasses 34,000 square feet and has an impressive array of new equipment, specialty shops, public spaces, and 140 micro-studios for creatives and entrepreneurs in the community. Open Works offers a variety of face-to-face courses to certify makers in five out of the seven studio spaces and relies heavily on the six full-time staff and fellows to run the space. Open Works is grappling with the need to increase paid memberships as a mechanism for sustainability and at the same time trying to meet the needs of a disadvantaged community. This chapter explores Open Works.

The Fairfield Makerspace

The Fairfield Makerspace is located in the green belt corn growing area in the southeastern portion of Iowa, USA. The town hosts the Maharishi University of Management (MUM), which is unlike any university in the Midwest in that most members of the university community practice transcendental meditation (TM). This practice has led to a general misunderstanding between the university community and those that do not practice TM. MUM opened the Fairfield Makerspace in response to the mistrust between the town and the university. The role of the makerspace is to find commonality between communities in the areas of making and sustainable living. The space was finding its footing as it began their first year of operation. Learning communities are formed through workshops and special meetups called Transformation Tuesdays, where members upcycle items. This chapter explores the Fairfield Makerspace.

Digital Harbor Foundation

If not for stolen computers, the Digital Harbor Foundation may have been a very different learning environment, focused on computer technology more than making. As it turned out, the staff in the 5,000-square-foot space works with students from around the Baltimore area to develop their skills in technology and making. Several students from the space have been invited to the White House to showcase their knowledge and projects. Learning communities are developed intentionally through physical seating arrangements and layout of the learning spaces, and through the course material. In the middle and high school room, all students complete a 14-week basic maker course to familiarize them with the machines and processes of making. The space follows a “pay-what-you-can” model for all courses and materials used for the projects. A separate Nano Lab caters to younger students in 3rd to 5th grades. Digital Harbor Foundation believes in building students' problem-solving abilities and ability to self-direct their learning. This chapter explores the Digital Harbor Foundation.

Station North Tool Library

Station North Tool Library is first and foremost a space that provides low-cost access to tools and information to residents in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District of Baltimore, Maryland. Unique in the fact that the tool library has a maker-type workshop space and offers classes and open times for members to make and create. With a staff of four full-time employees and a total square footage of 2,000 ft2 (186 m2), the space is not large but has a strong presence in the community and a membership that numbers around 2,300 individuals. Membership is based on a sliding scale at $1 per $1000 of income. Learning communities are supported in the space through inclusivity of all members and a management flat-structure where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. This chapter explores the Station North Tool Library.

Johnson County Library Makerspace

The Johnson County Library Makerspace occupies 1700 ft2 (158 m2) of space in the Central Resource Library in Johnson County, Kansas. Originally intended as a modernization of the small business services resource area within the library, the vision for the space quickly pivoted towards a community-based educational experience centered on making. In its original form, the space had one 3D printer and an idea to create a series of summer, mobile maker experiences dispersed amongst the 13 branch libraries. The widely popular mobile makerspace program paved the way to a permanent space for library patrons young and old. The space adheres to the central mission of the library to provide educational experiences for the public. Accordingly, the library has democratized creativity and innovation by providing free access to the equipment and information to the public. The space has reached out to incarcerated youth to inspire them to take up making and use it as a way to build job skills. In addition, the space provides patrons with a pathway to connect and form learning communities around making skills and interest. This chapter explores the Johnson County Library Makerspace.

Lighthouse Creativity Lab

The Lighthouse Creativity Lab, a program of Lighthouse Community Public Schools (LCPS), is a school-based makerspace dedicated to serving the student population of Oakland, California. LCPS is a family of two schools, Lighthouse and Lodestar, which opened in 2002 and 2016 respectively. The schools were founded with the mission to provide a high-quality education to the largely Latino population, following the expeditionary learning framework that emphasizes community and critical thinking skills, both important factors in making. Over the last 5 years, making has moved from a high school course into a school-wide endeavor, with all K–4 classes hosting a mini-maker space in the classroom. Moreover, the Creativity Lab works closely with teachers to incorporate making into learning expeditions as well as offering making as an elective in the middle and high-school grades. Learning communities are created through the social aspect of working on specific projects and through preparation for events like the Maker Faire. This chapter explores the Lighthouse Creativity Lab.

MAKESHOP

MAKESHOP is striving to improve what is known about making and learning by carefully examining and documenting what practices create the best experiences for learners in a makerspace. At the forefront is the belief in using real materials and real tools to foster learning. Located in the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, MAKESHOP is an exhibit that occupies approximately 3,000 square feet. Approaching the MAKESHOP, visitors see three rings of activities. Very simple tinkering activities are in the outermost ring. More complicated electronics and circuitry-based activities that are somewhat facilitated are in the second ring. The middle ring is the core of the makerspace with the typical makerspace fabrication equipment. Nationally known for its research on informal learning using making technology, MAKESHOP helps other makerspaces get started. Through its work with Google, MAKESHOP will soon help launch nearly 100 makerspaces across the United States. Like many makerspaces, MAKESHOP has challenges in reaching underserved populations. This chapter explores MAKESHOP.

Nebraska Innovation Studio

The Nebraska Innovation Studio (NIS) is a university-based makerspace built on a membership model open to the faculty staff and students from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) and community members at large. The space is located in the newly developed Innovation Campus that sits between the two established university campuses of UNL. Consisting of 17,000 ft2 (1580 m2), the space is large and modern with idea strips consisting of TV monitors, peg boards, and white boards running throughout much of the space. NIS has received a number of donations to enable the purchasing of equipment including laser cutters, 3D printers, a long arm quilter, as well as a number of work tables and computers. Overall, the space is very welcoming to new members, with few rules and policies to distract from the making experience. Learning communities are formed through the hard work of NIS staff, which keep track of individual members' projects and interests and work to ensure they connect with like-minded makers in the space. NIS has impacted the community by opening a shared university space, with the community focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. This chapter explores the Nebraska Innovation Studio.

KID Museum

Once a museum without walls, the KID museum is a place where everything is meant to be touched. KID offers unique, maker experiences for elementary and middle school-aged children that integrate hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) learning with an exploration of world cultures and global citizenship. The museum has four focus areas or studios including woodworking, textiles, electronics, and a fabrication lab. KID Museum's current site at Davis Library in Bethesda, Maryland provides schools and the wider community with programs and workshops during the school day, on weekends, after-school, and in the summer. It is a first step toward the museum's vision of a larger, permanent home in Montgomery County, focused on empowering the next generation to invent the future with creativity and compassion. Programming in the space is designed, developed, and facilitated by KID Museum's educators. KID Museum's educational approach blends formal and informal learning by intersecting STEAM principles with hands-on learning. It also supports public and private school educators in their endeavors to lead quality maker learning experiences in the classroom. KID Museum has developed unique partnerships, including with Montgomery County Public Schools, the 18th largest system in the US, to meet the needs of underrepresented populations. With an eye to the future, KID Museum expects to leave the Davis Library and will open a new, larger, 50,000 to 60,000 square foot museum that will serve 250,000 visitors per year. However, situated in a well-to-do Bethesda, Maryland neighborhood, the museum is challenged with meeting the needs of underrepresented populations due to location and costs associated with running the space. This chapter explores KID Museum.

Assemble

Assemble employs a “pay-what-you-can” revenue model in an attempt to reduce financial barriers for youth in Pittsburgh's East End to attend maker activities in the space. Assemble is a community-based makerspace centered on developing high levels of self-efficacy around making in youth served by the space. Assemble runs a number of different after-school programs at its main location and at various schools around Pittsburgh as well. Staff in the space consists of contract teachers and high-school interns all trained to help build learning communities by connecting students. Youth in the space are encouraged to help teach each other through specific learning activities embedded in the course offerings. The space is well known for their building of the Burrito Cat robot, a project completed by female students. Assemble relies on a cadre of contract teaching artists to provide programming. Since these teachers have a great deal of autonomy, it presents a unique set of challenges especially providing a consistent learning experience for the students. This chapter explores Assemble.