We Are All Makers!
We Are All Makers!
We are asking you to invest in MakerPlace programs by making a donation to Kentucky Science Center’s Annual Fund for Science. Your support will provide children and adults with an outlet that promotes creative expression and stimulates inquisitive minds.Your gift of any size will help empower people to become life-long learners and explore new skills. Please invest in our work today by clicking below!
Meet Starr
What makes you a “Maker”?
I’ve been helping make and fix things here at Kentucky Science Center for over 13 years. Outside of work I love to make costumes and improvements to my home that make it more functional and fun.
How did you get into making?
My parents have always been constantly making things. My mom makes amazing looking and tasting desserts and taught me how to bake and sew. She made all our Halloween costumes and some of my clothes growing up. My dad is a general contractor, handyman, and house painter who taught me how to use lots of tools starting pretty young. When he built us a treehouse he had us right there with him learning all of the steps and techniques.
Why is making important to you?
Making has always made things accessible to me that I might not be able to afford otherwise. Like my wedding dress. Plus I always learn new skills and about new materials when I am making. It’s fun!
Why do you think making is important to society?
I think understanding how things are made and the effort and resources that go into making things can help break the cycle of consumption that is so easy to fall into with internet purchasing. Our planet doesn’t have unlimited resources and so much of what we buy becomes trash so quickly. Making and fixing can help prevent trash!
What do you like most about making?
I love that you can customize things the way you want them to be, that you may not be able to find if you are buying something. I love learning new skills!
Do you think it is beneficial that Kentucky Science Center has a MakerPlace exhibit and offers a range of maker-inspired experiences? Why?
The making and design engineering process are great entries into scientific and critical thinking. You have a problem, you come up with plan, you make something, you try it out, you adjust. I know that I have been better at every job I’ve ever had and more capable of problem solving in my own life because of how much making I’ve been able to do throughout my life.
Meet John
What makes you a “Maker”?
A maker is someone who uses their hands to ask questions, who makes things to engage in the conversation of the culture, who solves problems by dancing with objects. A Maker is somebody who just can’t sit down and wait.
How did you get into making?
As soon as I could talk I had to make up stories, as soon as I could write I had to write books. As soon as I had a camera I had to take pictures and make movies. Making should be natural – it’s how we build a space that works for us in the world we live in.
Why is making important to you?
Making is the only real way to respond to the world. Making is how you make your life. Making is just so important.
Why do you think making is important to society?
Making is the opposite of following. You can follow directions when you make something, but you are still making it your own way. Making is how you live in a democracy. If your idea of life is to stare uncritically at a screen or listen to a voice all day, you have already lost.
What do you like most about making?
Making makes each day different, makes everything into an adventure. But mostly, making makes you smile, as long as you don’t get too critical about your making.
Do you think it is beneficial that Kentucky Science Center has a MakerPlace exhibit and offers a range of maker-inspired experiences? Why?
Yes, the experiential science center is centered around the idea of making. Active learning is effective learning, is learning for the whole body, the brain, the central nervous system, it is learning to the tips of your fingers. And to really learn something, you need to make something.
Meet Rudy
What makes you a “Maker”?
I found that I really loved working with my hands when I was working construction jobs in San Francisco before I went to college. I’d been to community college beforehand and loved my painting class, but that had been my first experience with an art class in school. I’m still interested in the physical action of making work – even my photography is just about as analog and handmade as it gets. I make tintype photographs, which involve coating plates by hand with light-sensitive emulsion, and take around 15 minutes to make each.
How did you get into making?
When I went to college at California State University Chico, I had great art professors in ceramics and printmaking. They fostered really active studio workspaces, where art students worked around the clock making their own artwork. They introduced me to artists who made a living making stuff, which was really exciting and influential to me.
Why is making important to you?
The process of making connects me to human history and all the people who have ever made anything – the only difference between me and them is time.
Why do you think making is important to society?
Every object in our hands has to be made by someone. Now that we’re making technology that’s also making stuff, there are still human hands involved or the product impacts our lives in a physical way.
What do you like most about making?
I like learning through trial and error, process, and experimentation. I’m really good at following procedures – from home brewing to printmaking and wet-plate photography – and coming up with a reliable result. I like feeling like a mad scientist, who’s not so mad because things are actually working. It just also feels out of place in a world where so much of us rely on objects made by hands not visible to us.
MEET CALVIN
What makes you a “Maker”?
I mean, I think everyone is a “maker.” There’s the traditional definition of someone who does woodwork or welding or engineering or something of the like. But making also includes sewing, needlework, gardening, drawing, and building. I am a maker because I like to cross stitch and I am trying to learn to sew. I like to paint, even though I’m terrible at it. It’s simple things that make someone a “maker.”
How did you get into making?
I got into making because I wanted to be able to make something with my own hands and see a tangible results. I wanted to have something unrelated to technology where I could have a finished product I could hold. I tried knitting but I’m pretty bad at that. I love to cross stitch though and that has followed me in and out of my life for a few years now.
Why is making important to you?
I like having purpose without tying it to academic or career goals. I do not want my life to be void of meaning outside of my job or schoolwork. I want to leave something to this world other than a memory and a pat on the back for a job well done. Painting or cross stitching allows me to have a creative outlet that is entirely for me but also has clear purpose.
Why do you think making is important to society?
I think making is inherently a political act. It requires a rejection of the societal definition of “productivity.” Additionally, to be a maker is a privilege that is not afforded to all. It requires time, materials, and ability, so to be able to be a maker and make things so something I do not take lightly. People aren’t supposed to do yarn crafts or paint or build; or, at least, they are not meant to do it unless it is for financial gain. I like that being a maker and maker spaces encourage creativity, curiosity, skill-building, and enjoyment without feeling a greater obligation to be “productive.”
What do you like most about making?
I like that I get to make something with my own hands that produces a tangible result. I like that I can show off what I’ve done or gift it or use it. I sewed a bag recently that I use all the time! Adults especially aren’t given a lot of opportunities to be makers so I try to take as much opportunity as I can. Plus, it’s fun!
Do you think it is beneficial that Kentucky Science Center has a MakerPlace exhibit and offers a range of maker-inspired experiences? Why?
Yes, absolutely. I think having a structured makerspace that promotes creativity and curiosity is not only beneficial to children but necessary. Kids should get the opportunity to explore and understand the world around them through touch and play. Makerspace allows them to do things that they may not get to do or may not know how to do at home, which helps develop skills and interests for later in life. Plus, it is just always really cool to be able to go somewhere and do something that provides a tangible outcome that you can hold. It’s fun to show off your work!
MEET CRYSTIAN
What makes you a “Maker”?
– At StageOne Family Theatre, I make art! Specifically, I make Theatre for young audiences!
How did you get into making?
I started making theatre in middle school. I was a new kid at my school, and making theatre was a great way for me to make friends and express myself!
Why is making important to you?
Making theatre is important to me because I get to collaborate with other people! We all have different skills, and making a play together brings all of our skills together to work on one amazing thing!
Why do you think making is important to society?
Making is important to society because when someone decides to make something and share it with the world (no matter how big or small), you can change people’s hearts and minds!
What do you like most about making?
I love getting to express myself through the things I make!
MEET MARIELA
What makes you a “Maker”?
What I believe makes me a Maker is the love I have for creating new things and testing out new ideas, whether it be just for fun or with the intention to improve an existing design. I love doing hands-on work and being able to see my ideas come to life in front of me!
How did you get into making?
Working at the Science Center helped re-introduce me into Making, but I think I was a Maker as a child as well! I am not sure exactly how I “became a maker”, but like many things I believe it’s something i’ve been able to practice and improve in as an adult as well. Having a space full of tools and supplies such as the MakerPlace available has certainly helped me lean into my love for making.
Why is making important to you?
Making is important to me because it helps me express my creativity and also apply scientific and artistic knowledge into my projects. I truly believe the best way to learn is by doing, and I have learned so many new things just by using trial and error while making!
Why do you think making is important to society?
I think making is important to society because it not only serves as a a creative outlet, but it also helps us understand and test our limits! We are always experimenting with and improving on things that we once thought couldn’t be improved any more. It also helps people realize their own potential by showing them the amazing things they can create!
What do you like most about making?
The thing I like most about making is that even though many projects can be done alone, it always feels like an act of teamwork! So many of our ideas and theories are inspired by things that people have created in the past and it is such a wonderful thing to be able to use something that has already been created and put your own personal touches on it to make it unique.
Do you think it is beneficial that Kentucky Science Center has a MakerPlace exhibit and offers a range of maker-inspired experiences? Why?
I absolutely think it is wonderful that the Kentucky Science Center has a MakerPlace available because it introduced children to the art of making, but also helps their adult guardians reconnect with their love for making and realize that it can be so much more than “just arts and crafts”! It creates a space where you can come see what others have made, and inspire you to take on your own project that you may never have thought of before!