They had me at FREE, but I'm also a strong advocate for makerspaces, and the maker mindset, and the practices of upcycling and repurposing old materials.
The workshop was sponsored by Woven Community Development, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the individuals, and the community as a whole, of Rochester, NH flourish. As a native of a rustbelt city (Rochester, NY), I have an interest in revitalizing these old cities, which were in their prime during the Industrial Age. I love seeing those old factory and mill buildings put to new uses, and Woven gets its namesake from the once-thriving textile mills that are found in local communities.
The workshop had a simple purpose: invite local people to come in, learn a little bit about Woven, and create their own sign from salvaged metal and wood. I brought a few things with me, but my mouth watered when I saw all the materials that were awaiting me:
Look at all this salvaged wood, and random bits of metal!
I decided to make a sign for my husband to display in the garden, since he likes to spend alot of time out there in the summer:
One of Woven's goals is to establish a community makerspace in Rochester that would be available to the public for crafting/art purposes, but would also serve as a place to connect people in need of employment/stability with mentors. These people could learn valuable trade skills such as woodworking, welding and basic repairing that will help them as they recover and re-enter society from unemployment, incarceration, homelessness, drug addiction or whatever else they are struggling with.
This is a fantastic reason for schools, libraries and other institutions to become involved with the maker movement, and to encourage our kids, and ourselves to 'tinker about.'
In related news, I was just accepted as a Maker in the NH Maker Faire and Food Fest (formerly the NH Mini Maker Faire). This will be my fourth time exhibiting there. I always took my dollhouses and talked about how I make some from scratch out of recyclable materials, and how I haunt thrift stores looking for supplies. I enjoyed showing my dollhouses and seeing people engage with them, but transporting all of them, setting them up and then taking them back home was alot of work.
This year I am going to be showing how to make junk journals from discarded library books. I presented this project at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference this past November, and it went over very well. We've also done this project with students at school before.
Plus, this will give me a good reason to spend alot of time in the next few months working on my junk journals.
Workshop was an awesome time! Love your words Erin. (And your sign : )
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