A Practical Laser Cutter Project
I had the opportunity to use our laser cutter to create something practical for a change. We usually use our laser cutter to experiment with visitors and demonstrate the use of a laser to cut or etch different materials. I was asked to create this project for Tula Organic Salon and Spa. They wanted to laser cut a stencil so…
MAKESHOP MAKEover Edition 2: Millvale Community Library
Mobile MAKESHOP is a program that hopes to expand our ideas and teaching practices to outside sites and community partners. One of those partners is the recently opened Millvale Community Library. This space was built from the ground up by the residents of Millvale, a small suburb of Pittsburgh. The library is incredible and is a great community space for…
The Importance of Prompts
MAKESHOP is not just for kids, adults are allowed to have fun too. Every year the Museum hosts an event for the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. There has always been some kind of building challenge during this event. This year we prompted the groups to build bridges out of recycled materials. The bridges did not…
A Miniature MAKESHOP
We recently explored scale and perspective as a theme in MAKESHOP. One of our activities was to create a tiny version of the MAKESHOP exhibit. I built a small diorama of the room and then let other educators and visitors add to the space. There are some very recognizable objects in MAKESHOP. It was a real challenge building tiny, tiny…
A Month of Tape
The month of September was full of tape. Our newest exhibit, TapeScape was under construction. The structure is made out of a lot of packing tape. You’d be surprised how sturdy the material actually is. It was able to support several grown exhibit technicians at one time. The exhibit is part climbing structure, part art piece. It is a sight to see….
Melt the Night Away
We hosted yet another Adult MAKEnight this October. We offered hand sewing and machine sewing as an activity along with circuit blocks and stop-motion animation. We prompted our patrons to make something for Halloween, but of course everyone was free to make whatever they wanted. The Art Studio also provided a bunch of activities, including silk screening with glow in…
Maker BBQ
I get to do a lot of fun things for the Museum. I recently got the chance to attend a Maker BBQ hosted by Hive Pittsburgh which is part of the Kids + Creativity Network. I spent a night at Pittsburgh’s Tech Shop hanging out with a bunch of teenagers. Everyone involved was teaching or demonstrating something digital: 3D modeling, programming etc. I…
Field Trip: Braddock Library
The Braddock Library is an amazing place. The building is beautiful, the staff is extremely friendly and the patrons are awesome. I was lucky enough to visit the library twice this summer and teach two workshops: one woodworking and one electronics. The woodworking workshop had about twenty kids participate and all of them created something original. One girl simply spent…
More Magnets?
As usual we are always prototyping or experimenting with something new (or old) in MAKESHOP. This particular day we decided to continue our exploration of magnets. Magnets are something that really seems to intrigue the entire staff of MAKESHOP. I found some plastic tanks in the basement and decided to them to create some new magnetic prototypes. We tried to…
Field Trip: Shaler Elementary
Nick (one of our Maker Corps Members) and I got to spend a couple of hours at Shaler Elementary solving a lot of woodworking problems alongside amazing and diligent students. The kids got the chance to experience all of the tools we had brought, along with safe techniques to use them properly. After a lengthy orientation with the tools and…