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johnboothus · 4 years

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The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here

American craft whiskey has come a long way in just two decades. The movement started with a handful of distillers who began fermenting in the mid-aughts and has now grown to over 570 small distilleries, according to Bill Owens, president of the American Distilling Institute. Although there were a few small whiskey distilleries around the country that had gotten their starts in the 1990s, outfits like Old Potrero in California and Prichard’s in Tennessee, it’s the distilleries that rose up in that first decade of the new century — the modern pioneers of micro-distilling — that blazed the trail that so many have followed since. Those years saw the birth of a handful of startups in Colorado, New York, and Texas, some of which had to lobby their state governments to amend local law just to allow them to exist.

Yet it wasn’t long after craft whiskey started to gain momentum that some influential cognoscenti began turning their noses up at the spirits made by most small distillers, engendering a dismissive attitude that continues to stick a full decade later among a large slice of enthusiasts. Accompanying all that scoffing are a number of myths about how small distillers make whiskey, notions that were at best only half true in 2010 and are woefully out of date today. These attitudes remain frozen in the craft whiskey 1.0 era, labeling said whiskeys as underaged in small barrels with a flavor profile that is hot, woody, and cloying.

Yet how most small distillers around America make their whiskeys has evolved during the last decade and a half, as lessons were learned and operating scale grew. Early on, small whiskey makers embraced a spirit of innovation, some of them borrowing heavily from craft brewing along the way. Their successes even inspired the big distillers to come around to adopt certain craft-like practices, and now most of the big guys operate a micro-distillery of some description, capable of the small, craft-scale production runs favorable to experimentation (the best example is Buffalo Trace, which runs a separate, small distillery in the same complex as its industrial-scale setup). These trends came full circle when Nicole Austin, who began her distilling career with Kings County in Brooklyn,was named master distiller for George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey in 2018.

American Whiskey Grows Up

Balcones wasn’t the first distillery project to get started in Texas, but it was among the earliest, and its story is arguably the most iconic. Founders Chip Tate and Jared Himstedt famously did much of the construction and fabrication necessary to get the distillery built themselves, inside an old welding shop in Waco. The brand’s first whiskey, Baby Blue, was released in 2010 and was typical of its time in two ways: It innovated by making the first blue corn whiskey, imparting a richer and oilier flavor to the spirit; and used small barrels to reduce aging time down to several months. Baby Blue, although flavorful and unlike anything on store shelves at the time, illustrated both the pros and cons of craft whiskey 1.0.

Pressed by the need to get a whiskey on the market as soon as possible, many early small distillers like Balcones relied upon small barrels to age their whiskeys. Using these small barrels increased the ratio of wood surface area to liquid contained, thereby accelerating some (but not all) aspects of the maturation process. From the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, the term “small barrel” usually meant a cask holding anywhere from 3 to 10 gallons, as opposed to the familiar 53-gallon American Standard Barrel that is the bedrock of the whiskey industries in Kentucky and Tennessee.

In the years that followed, Balcones grew, gained renown, and sought investors. Those investors clashed with co-founder Tate, who sold his share and started a new distilling project. Balcones went on without him to open a new $14 million production facility using large copper pot stills, increasing production by a factor of 10. Yet even before the new facility came online, the company was already using larger barrels, and moving away from its start with tiny barrel aging.

Balcones isn’t alone among the modern pioneers of micro-distilling in making the switch to bigger barrels. Before there was Baby Blue, Tuthilltown’s Hudson Baby Bourbon was made using 3- and 14-gallon barrels, with aging periods ranging from six to 24 months. Tuthilltown now uses 15- and 26-gallon barrels for at least two years of aging, and 53-gallon barrels for at least four years of aging. Brooklyn’s Breuckelen Distilling relies on 25- and 53-gallon barrels. Also in Brooklyn, Kings County Distilling uses 15- and 53-gallon barrels, as does Philadelphia’s Mountain Laurel Spirits, makers of Dad’s Hat Rye. Nowadays 15- to 30-gallons barrels are the norm with small distillers, while 53-gallon American Standard Barrels and the even larger 59-gallon casks made by wine coopers are in more common usage than the tiny 3-gallon and 5-gallon casks that were prevalent in the early days.

The change in barrel stock underscores how whiskey made by small and medium-sized distillers has been gaining in maturity alongside the companies that make them. The malt whiskey made by Stranahan’s, another one of the earliest craft whiskey entrants, has been getting progressively older over the years. This has culminated most recently in the latest iteration of Stranahan’s Diamond Peak, which pairs four years of normal aging in new oak barrels with further aging in a solera system based on a trio of foeders (a type of large wooden cask).

The category-wide shift was driven by a problem inherent with using those tiny, new oak barrels that held less than 10 gallons. Namely, they came with a time limit for aging. Several months in these smaller vessels is ideal, maximizing extraction of color and flavor from the oak. However, using those barrels past a year risks drawing more flavor and tannin than is desirable. Whiskeys over-aged in new oak tend to become astringent and “woody.” In comparison, it could take 20 years for a whiskey to gain over-aged flavors in a 53-gallon barrel, while over-aging can happen in as little as 15 months in a 5-gallon barrel. By transitioning to a mix of larger barrel sizes, distillers were enabled to produce mature, aged whiskies that still retained an identity distinct from that of the big guys of the upper South, who rely entirely on the 53-gallon barrels and a traditional approach to maturation.

The Era of “Bottled In Bond”

The best statement on how craft whiskey has grown up over the last 15 years or so is found on the labels of a growing number of expressions that read “bottled in bond.” The term has been a statement of quality since the passage of the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. Bonded whiskeys are made by a single distiller from stock made in a single distilling season, aged in a bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years, and bottled at 100 proof. Small distillers value one of those requirements in particular. “Producing a bottled-in-bond whiskey allows us to communicate to customers that Wigle produces whiskey that is older than four years,” says Alex Grelli, co-founder of Wigle Whiskey in Pittsburgh.

Although the small barrels used by many in the early days of craft whiskey could impart vanilla and tannic flavors, some parts of the maturation process demand time — the kind of time a small barrel doesn’t allow for. Over the years spent in the cask, some of the harsher chemicals in the spirit are extracted from the whiskey and into the wood, while others bond with each other and transform or otherwise break down. Young whiskey can be very flavorful, but a smooth and sophisticated character comes only with maturity.

However, few small or medium-sized distillers are able to lay up whiskey for years just to see how it will turn out, and only then develop special products. That’s a luxury for well-funded, large distilleries that can better afford to tie up capital in aging unproven whiskeys. So the introduction of these craft bonded whiskeys is no happy accident. An additional challenge? Smaller barrels have a greater evaporation rate (a.k.a. “the angel’s share”), so the relative loss from a 30-gallon barrel will be significantly higher than from a 53-gallon barrel. Putting out a craft bonded whiskey is the result of farsighted and deliberate planning, embracing the challenges and expenses, and making the changes necessary to accommodate older whiskeys. Some small distillers had the idea of creating a bonded whiskey from the start.

“We never set out to make a super-young whiskey,” says Al Laws, founder of Laws Whiskey House in Denver. “We wanted to be the first bonded four grain bourbon in the U.S. Our bonded whiskeys are true small batches. Not two barrels, but 10, 20, or 30, so we can reach those interested in the flavor experience.”

To meet that goal, Laws relied on 53-gallon barrels from the beginning, and Laws’ Bonded Four Grain Bourbon followed in due course, once the distillery had aged sufficient amounts of 4-year-old whiskey. Following that milestone, it steadily introduced 4-year-old, bonded versions of its other whiskeys. Then the age of those bonded whiskeys began to increase in 2019, with the release of a 6-year-old version of the Bonded Four Grain Bourbon.

For Wigle Distillery in Pittsburgh, moving toward the production of a bonded rye whiskey was practically an outgrowth of its identity, so it had it in mind early on. “We are named for a man, Philip Wigle, who started the Whiskey Rebellion when he punched a federal tax collector,” said Grelli. “The bottled in bond designation is inextricably linked to federal whiskey taxes, and so we knew we wanted to produce a product to celebrate this class of whiskey.”

The days when a typical craft whiskey came from tiny barrels are far behind us now, and the truth is small whiskey distilling in America transitioned to its 2.0 stage a few years ago. Most craft whiskeys are aged for longer periods, while the use of unorthodox grains has grown from blue corn and brewer’s malts to include red corn and exotics like spelt and millet. Although aging whiskey takes time, changing perceptions sometimes takes longer, but any of the expressions listed below ought to help with any lingering doubts.

6 Top Examples of American Whiskey’s Next Wave

Dad’s Hat Bottled in Bond Rye

Mountain Laurel Spirits is not just part of the gaining maturity of craft whiskey, but also a leader in the revival of Pennsylvania Rye. Dad’s Hat make a bold, spicy rye based on an 80 percent rye, 20 percent malted barley mash, which is a true throwback to pre-Prohibition whiskey.

Laws San Luis Valley 6-Year-Old Bonded Rye

Laws Whiskey House followed up raising the age of its bonded four-grain bourbon last year by doing the same with its rye this year. It’s just as novel, too, since extra-aged and bonded rye whiskeys aren’t exactly commonplace on the market.

Old Potrero Hotaling Single Malt

Old Potrero has remained small and has been around for a quarter-century now, which has given it plenty of time to produce some middle-aged and even truly old whiskeys. Those go into its occasional Hotaling releases, the most recent of which was an 11-year-old version of its 100 percent malted rye whiskey from 2017.

St. George’s Spirits Single Malt

Another example of craft whiskey before there was craft whiskey is California’s St. George’s Spirits, and the distillery has been releasing a new lot of its popular single malt for two decades now. Last year’s Lot 19 was made from stock aged in ex-bourbon barrels and sweet port and dessert wine casks for six to eight years.

Tom’s Foolery Bonded Bourbon

Traditional bourbon is made using mostly corn, usually making up about two-thirds to three-quarters of the mash. This Ohio farm distillery makes its bourbon with an exotic mash bill: 54 percent corn, 23 percent rye, and 23 percent malted barley. A recipe like that produces a spirit that draws less flavor from the sweet corn and more from the nutty, fruity barley, while retaining the spicy note found in most of the bourbon made across the Ohio River in Kentucky.

Woodinville Whiskey Company

Sometimes an extra-aged or bonded whiskey from a small distillery is a special one-time or periodic release, and not part of the brand’s regular line-up. Washington’s Woodinville Whiskey, however, has based its flagship bourbon and rye squarely on being at least 5 years old.

The article The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/american-craft-whiskies-new-wave/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-next-wave-of-american-craft-whiskeys-is-here

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years

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The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here

American Whiskey Grows Up

The Era of “Bottled In Bond”

6 Top Examples of American Whiskey’s Next Wave

Dad’s Hat Bottled in Bond Rye

Laws San Luis Valley 6-Year-Old Bonded Rye

Old Potrero Hotaling Single Malt

St. George’s Spirits Single Malt

Tom’s Foolery Bonded Bourbon

Woodinville Whiskey Company

The article The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/american-craft-whiskies-new-wave/

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isaiahrippinus · 4 years

Text

The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here

American Whiskey Grows Up

The Era of “Bottled In Bond”

6 Top Examples of American Whiskey’s Next Wave

Dad’s Hat Bottled in Bond Rye

Laws San Luis Valley 6-Year-Old Bonded Rye

Old Potrero Hotaling Single Malt

St. George’s Spirits Single Malt

Tom’s Foolery Bonded Bourbon

Woodinville Whiskey Company

The article The Next Wave of American Craft Whiskeys Is Here appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/american-craft-whiskies-new-wave/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/620728922522468352

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blackhandvta · 5 years

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hudsonespie · 4 years

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MARAD Awards Nearly $20 Million in Funding to Small Shipyards

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded $19.6 million in discretionary grants to 24 U.S. small shipyards through the Small Shipyard Grant Program.

The funding is designed to help modernize America’s small shipyards, making them more efficient in constructing commercial vessels. Projects under the program include capital and related improvement projects that foster efficiency, competitive operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and reconfiguration. In addition, the program can fund training projects that foster employee skills and enhance productivity.

The economic footprint of American shipyards is nearly 400,000 jobs, $25.1 billion of labor income, and $37.3 billion in GDP.

Shipyard grant recipients are:

Alabama

Alabama Shipyard, LLC of Mobile, AL, which has been serving the Gulf Coast since 1917, will receive $571,887 to upgrade four travel trucks with new assemblies on 150?ton portal crane.

Blakely BoatWorks, Inc. of Mobile AL, a full-service shipyard focused on new construction and marine repair projects, will receive $ 379,408 for a 500-ton press brake, welding machines, overhead cranes, and man lifts.

California

Mare Island Dry Dock of Vallejo, CA, which offers dry docking, ship repair and other services, will receive $1,066,326 for a 165?ton Rough Terrain Crane.

Florida

Gulf Marine Repair Corporation of Tampa, FL, which specializes in the repair, conversion and modification of large ocean-going commercial and other vessels, will receive $692,100 for a CNC plasma cutting machine and 100?ton rough terrain crane.

Guam

Cabras Marine Corporation, which provides pilot, tug, barge, spill response, firefighting, and ferry services in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana’s Islands, will receive $1 million for the purchase of a 275?ton Truck Crane.

Hawaii

Marisco, Ltd. Of Kapolei, HI, which offers ship repair and other services, will receive $745,872 for a blast and paint booth.

Louisiana

C&C Marine and Repair, LLC of Belle Chasse, LA, which provides general steel repairs on inland barges, will receive $ 979,638 for a 275?ton Crawler Crane.

Cooper Consolidated, LLC of Convent, LA, which provides midstream stevedoring, barge, marine, and logistics services, will receive $1.2 million for a 620?ton Marine Travelift.

Maryland

Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp. of Salisbury, MD, which possesses more thirty years of direct industry experience and designs and builds commercial ships up to 450 feet in length, will receive $830,622 to purchase a 130?ton Rough Terrain Crane.

Michigan

Mackinac Island Ferry Company dba Mackinac Marine Service of St. Ignace, MI, which services commercial and recreational vessels, will receive $752,933 for a Travelift and Welding Equipment.

Mississippi

VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, MS, a company with more than 70 years of experience in ship design, construction, repair and conversion to maintenance and support, will receive $1,695,118 for a 1250?ton Press Brake.

New York

Smith Boys Marine Sales Inc. of North Tonowanda, NY, a family-owned boat service and repair company, will receive $317,641 for a transporter and CNC plasma cutter.

Ohio

The Great Lakes Towing Company of Cleveland, OH, a company with 120 years of service on the Great Lakes, will receive $1,400,000 for an 820?ton Travelift.

Oregon

WCT Marine & Construction Inc. of Astoria, OR, which specialize in marine services, new construction, welding, boat repair, boat building and fabrications, will receive $573,075 for a big top enclosed work structure, work pad with drains, filtration system.

Diversified Marine, Inc. of Portland, OR, which offers repair, retrofit and construction of tugs, barges and commercial steel vessels, will receive $ 1,253,160 for a 275?ton Crawler Crane.

Pensylvania

Philly Shipyard, Inc. of Philadelphia, PA, a U.S. commercial shipyard constructing vessels for operation in the U.S. Jones Act market, will receive $640,158 for a Messer system.

Rhode Island

J. Goodison Company, Inc. of North Kingstown, RI, a veteran-owned small business offering a full range ship repair services, will receive $504,237 for its shipyard rough terrain crane project.

South Carolina

Metal Trades, Inc. of Hollywood, SC, a family-owned business since 1962 with experience in heavy steel fabrication, manufacturing, machining, vessel construction and vessel maintenance and repair, will receive $492,128 for a 55?ton Grove All Terrain Crane and three Skytrak Telehandlers Forklifts.

Texas

Gulf Copper Ship Repair, Inc. of Corpus Christi, TX, an employee-owned company noted for installing copper piping on marine vessels, will receive $423,186 for a 110?ton Crane.

Bludworth Marine, LLC of Houston, TX, which services ships, ATB's, inland and offshore tugs and barges, and other vessels will receive $1,337,468 for a 275?ton Crawler Crane.

Virginia

Colonna's Shipyard, Inc. Norfolk VA, which performs ship repair, machining and steel fabrication services to both the commercial and government markets. will receive $799,996 to purchase welding machines.

Washington

SAFE Boats International, L.L.C. of Bremerton, WA, an aluminum boat manufacturer and leading supplier to military, federal, state and local law enforcement, fire and rescue agencies, will receive $587,035 for a router and press brake.

Mavrik Marine Inc. of La Conner, WA, which specialized in the construction of aluminum work boats, will receive $564,850 for a bridge crane, welding system, and compressor.

Wisconsin

Fraser Shipyards, Inc. of Superior, WI, which offers services from emergency repairs to brand-new craft to large industrial fabrications, will receive $793,162 for Overhead Material Handling and Steel Brake Processing Improvement.

from Storage Containers https://maritime-executive.com/article/marad-awards-nearly-20-million-in-funding-to-small-shipyards via http://www.rssmix.com/

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phillymakerfaire · 5 years

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https://ift.tt/2YlIfPE

The NextFab North Philly location is officially moving to 1800 North American Street in Spring 2020, after closing up the current location on November 30, 2019. Why is this happening? NextFab founder and president Dr. Evan Malone explains the reasoning behind moving and expanding our new North Philly location:

“Fundamentally, NextFab’s mission is to help you make a living doing what you love – creating things. Our South Philly location was for many years our only location, and supported all types of creators, but since the addition of business incubation and the RAPID Hardware Accelerator program, NextFab South Philly has focused predominantly on fostering growth in our tech community.From its start, our North Philly location has specialized in supporting artists, artisans, and craftspeople, many of whom aspire to or are already selling their works. To support these dreams, my vision for the new NextFab North Philly is 24,000 square feet of space, purpose-built to serve artisan professionals, with expanded departments, large reconfigurable production space, and both rentable private workspaces and rentable storage spaces. In 2020, NextFab will also be launching RAPID for Artisans, an accelerator program specifically for artisan professionals.” – Evan Malone

The new NextFab North Philly location at 1800 North American

Our new RAPID for Artisans program will provide the resources, tools, community, and space that will allow artists to enrich and grow their craft into a sustainable business practice, and possibly transition into it full time. In addition to the expanded departments and rentable workspaces, this new space will have memberships with access to tools and equipment across all departments, an on-site parking lot with adjacent public transportation, increased programming and event space, and creative partners and tenants.

The new North Philadelphia location will become a critical component in the redevelopment of the American Street corridor, which is currently undergoing roadway resurfacing, landscaping and the addition of bike lanes. One of the key features of the American Street opportunity zone is the tax breaks for local small businesses, aiding in the budding neighborhood artisan community. As the neighborhood develops, NextFab is striving to be an example of the potential of the American Street Empowerment Zone to generate economic growth through programming and initiatives in targeted areas.

Meet the Team

The NextFab North Philly Team (From left to right – Melissa, Kelly, Ben, Matt, Culligan, Tim)

Melissa Guglielmo: Location Manager and Jewelry Supervisor

Our North Philly location will continue to be run by our current North Philly team of expert educators, led by Location Manager and Jewelry Supervisor Melissa Guglielmo. She has been running the 1227 N.4th location for the past five years, while assisting beginner and expert jewelers as they expand their practice, with many turning it into a full-time passion.

“I went to art school for crafts. Beyond solidifying my eternal love for glitter, my crafts background has brought me to working with many materials and processes. I am a true believer that there is craft in everything and that anything is possible. I joined the team at NextFab to develop the Jewelry Department and I currently manage our North Philly location. Building out 1800 is the largest and longest term project that I have contributed to, and I am thrilled to see all of the influence from our community brought to life in this physical space. We are launching with the dream team and a vision of cotton candy sunsets – let’s make it shine!”

Kelly McGovern: Textiles Manager

Kelly McGovern, Textiles Manager and all-around expert at North Philly, comes from a vast background with experience in everything from sculpture to welding to photography. She brings to NextFab a passion and zeal for helping every maker launch their ideas to fruition, and is eager to bring that same level of excitement to the new location.

“My name is Kelly, I’m the Textiles Department Manager here at the North Philly NextFab. My background is in sculpture and I have my Masters in Visual Studies. Though I teach the textiles and welding classes here, my personal work is primarily in photo and collage-based art. I have shown my work in galleries all over the US and some in the UK. NextFab has been an incredible space to learn, work, and grow and I am HYPER STOKED for the new work our members will be making there. I am most stoked, however, for the new textiles studio and the possibilities the new equipment will open up.”

Ben Fries: Community Manager

The new location staff will also include Ben Fries, Community Manager. Given Ben’s diverse education and training, he will be focusing on fostering the same collaborative spirit of the current location, while welcoming new artisan entrepreneurs.

“I am a native Philadelphian and this city has taught me a lot about hustle and heart. I bring this to what we do, and I believe if you make it here, you can make it anywhere. What gets me going is the satisfaction of learning new things, and with the variety of projects that come through the shop, there is never a shortage of exploration. Before NextFab, I went to Temple for audio/video production, and after graduation I fabricated projects for an architectural metalworking company and joined a band. I am proud to support the ideas and life that exist in this space and I know the new facility will only further our ability to execute and deliver for the community. I look forward to welcoming our old friends and meeting new ones. See ya there!”

Matthew Malesky: Implementation Manager

Matthew Malesky, our Implementation Manager, has been the driving force and the sound visionary for creating and building two out of three of our NextFab locations, and this role is no different with building the 1800 location. Although coming from a similar creative background to much of the staff at NextFab, he combined his experiences to fuel the 1800 project.

“Over the years, we have been developing our facilities, working to build spaces where people can come to learn and thrive as artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and more. When I first started at NextFab, looking to teach woodworking processes, I could not have imagined that I would have such a close role in the development of our spaces/facilities. However, I am honored to have this opportunity. I am especially excited for our new facility, which is the result of our own members feedback, as well as a long study in what will allow our community to thrive. Originally from rural western PA, I moved to Philadelphia to attend The University of the Arts, where I received my BFA in Craft: Woodworking. I have experience in custom and production furniture making processes, as well as a general interest in problem solving.”

Tim Burns: Technical Supervisor of Wood Processes

Tim Burns, Technical Supervisor of Wood Processes and additional all-around expert, is the go-to when it comes to troubleshooting ideas, or the positive reinforcement of members’ across-the-board ideas.

“Hi, my name is Tim and I started here at the fabulous Fab three years ago when I migrated from the frozen pine forests of Maine with the hopes of discovering a community of makers and weirdos with interests as far reaching as my own. During my formative years I studied art, music and woodworking, with a focus on undertaking large and far-reaching projects. After finding NextFab, my heart burst with the glory of realizing the true reaches of possibility and I was soon on my way to becoming the maker I had always dreamed of. I look forward to fostering the brilliant minds that walk through our doors everyday and continuing to add to my abstract skill set.”

Culligan the Water Cooler: Hydration Specialist

Rounding out the team is hydration specialist and unofficial North Philly mascot, Culligan the Water Cooler. He first started his residency in the lobby area of the 1227 N.4th location years ago. As the community grew, it was a common occurrence for members and staff to gather there, and “talks around the water cooler,” became a key value to the growing number of members. It wasn’t long before staff and members alike concluded that Culligan was part of the family. He is equally charged to hydrate the new location and all of its occupants.

Meet the 1800 tenants

Our team at the new North Philly location is fundamental in driving our artisan focused entrepreneurial vision. With their individual and group passions, they’re helping to lead our charge of supporting economically motivated and collaborative makers. This mission not only applies to our business of providing access to tools, space, education, and business resources, but also to growing demand for locally crafted, artisan goods.

By developing a collaborative ecosystem of craft-focused businesses, maker resources and complementary services, we aim to trademark the 1800 North American building in a similar fashion. The tenants in the building have joined that same charge, motivated to deliver a similar set of creative resources and values to the Philadelphia region, both sustainably and collaboratively.

The Resource Exchange

The first tenant to move into the new location was The Resource Exchange, a nonprofit reuse center that promotes creative reuse, recycling, and resource conservation by diverting valuable materials from the waste stream and redirecting them to artists, builders, educators, and the general public. NextFab saw the perfect opportunity to partner with Resource Exchange after they moved in last September, by combining NextFab’s tools and resources with their reclaimed materials and sustainable arts mission and programs, to help fuel our mutual sustainable objectives. We plan to build our community through shared programming, which has already started, with our co-hosted Making Materials Matter open forum last year.

The Resource Exchange Grand Opening. Photo credit: The Resource Exchange

Sor Ynez

Sojourn Philly, familiar to many South Philly members through Cafe Ynez, will be opening its sister location, Sor Ynez, at 1800 North American. Featuring fresh juices, along with vegetarian and vegan-friendly Mexican cuisine with Aztec influences, Sor Ynez will fuel our community with its great food and beverages and outdoor seating area, and will act as the central hub of many partnerships.

Keystone Bicycle Co.

Keystone Bicycle Co. is a worker-owned full service bicycle shop, staffed by several NextFab members, that will be joining NextFab in Spring 2020. Through their years of combined experience in the cycling industry, their goal is to bring together a community of cyclists interested in riding, wrenching, and learning together. Focused on quality services, practical bicycle builds, and educational opportunities, KBC plans to be a hub for all cyclists in Philadelphia. With the common building and “getting their hands dirty” mentalities, KBC looks forward to working with the other businesses joining this community as well.

Keystone Bicycle Co. Team. Photo Credit: Keystone Bicycle Co.

The Neon Museum of Philadelphia

Len Davidson has had a long and enlightening history with Philadelphia, and he’s excited to bring that journey together with his Neon Museum of Philadelphia. For decades, he has fabricated new neon and displayed vintage signs, including Philadelphia staples, like the Pat’s Steaks and the Reading Terminal signs. This historic collection will light up the halls of the new location, and Davidson is excited to bring the community together with his similar set of educational curriculum and creative resources, including neon programming with videos, and an art gallery and museum store.

The Neon Museum contents getting ready to be hung at 1800 N.American. Photo credit: Michaela Winberg / Billy Penn

Beaty American

Beaty American, much like the Resource Exchange, drives a sustainable mission for reuse and repurposed materials. Owner Bob Beaty has focused a lifetime on hunting and preserving the architectural treasures he forges out of deserted buildings. This preservation of the historic architecture of Philadelphia is the mission of Beaty American. Bob is incredibly knowledgeable about the Philly landscape, and he’s excited to share this with the community at large. Along with his sustainable values, Bob is sourcing partnerships with non-profit work programs for the unemployed, returning citizens, and veterans.

Beaty American setting up at 1800 N. American

Glass Commons

Glass Commons (formerly East Falls Glassworks) is Philadelphia’s only public access glassblowing studio. Community is at the base of their mission, seen in the form of their featured glass blowing demonstrations and community events. Their team is eagerly waiting to bring education and community to this new location, broadening the skill sets of the self-sustained Philadelphia artisan.

Destined Goods

Mark Brandon, proprietor of Destined Goods, is already a familiar face at the South Philly NextFab location, running his business out of the spaces and as a member. His mission is to make high quality, handcrafted items customized to provide you with a daily reminder of your favorite memories and objects. As an already central part of the NextFab network, Destined Goods is looking forward to expanding into the new space and sharing their knowledge of small-batch manufacturing with the community.

Mark Brandon, founder of Destined Goods, in his current South Philly space.

Furnishing a Future

Steve Greenberg, another NextFab members, currently utilizes the South Philly woodshop to run his nonprofit, Furnishing a Future. This workforce development program provides job readiness training while making sturdy, durable furniture for families transitioning to affordable housing, which started utilizing NextFab spaces four years ago. Their trainees, veterans and returning citizens (formerly incarcerated persons), develop the technical and life skills that lead to a living wage. As the recent winners of SBA’s pilot Makerspace Training, Collaboration and Hiring (MaTCH) Competition, Furnishing a Future and NextFab are building a new dedicated training facility in 1800. This will provide Steve with a classroom for teaching, as well as woodworking equipment to enable him to scale up his program in friendly proximity to the NextFab community, and without fear of displacing NextFab members from shops.

Furnishing a Future busy in the woodshop.

So what’s next?

NextFab has officially closed its doors at 1227 N.4th Street in preparation for the big move to 1800 N. American Street, opening in Spring of 2020. During this time, equipment, furniture, and of course Culligan will be moved over to the new location. Some new faces might pop up at the South Philly and Wilmington locations, as members who predominantly utilized the North Philly spaces are heading to other NextFab locations to continue their making. During the interim, staff will be working hard to finish up the new building, coordinate with new members, and officially turn the lights on at 1800 North American Street.

Interested in learning more about the new location, renting a private workshop, or building your business? Subscribe to all our updates at nextfab.com/1800.

The post NextFab is Moving to 1800 North American Street appeared first on NextFab.

#IFTTT #NextFab

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Text

Wikispaces: Youth Services Librarianship - Makerspaces

(Wikispaces is closing down over the course of 2018. It’s not clear if the information collected there will be archived in any way, so I’m copying pages here for safekeeping! Hopefully I can make the copies interlinked the way the originals are, but it will take time. c: Be advised: Some links may lead to deleted or inactive webpages.)

Makerspaces

(Last revision: Nov 24, 2013)

Overview

What Is a Makerspace? Have you ever envisioned a library where, “Kids gather to make Lego robots; teens create digital music, movies, and games with computers and mixers; and students engineer new projects while adults create prototypes for small business products with laser cutters and 3D printers” (American Libraries, 2013, pg. 44)? Well, many libraries are offering places called “makerspaces,” which are “part of a growing movement of hands-on, mentor-led learning environments to make and remake the physical and digital worlds. They foster experimentation, invention, creation, exploration, and STEM learning” (Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2012, para.1). Makerspaces are also known as, Fab Labs, Hackerspaces, Makelabs, Digital Media Labs, DIY Spaces, Creative Spaces, or Tech Shops. Makerspaces are comprised of or include "a continuum of activity that includes “co-working,” “hackerspace,” and “fab lab”; the common thread running through each is a focus on making rather than merely consuming" (Colegrove, 2013, pg. 3). They can,“be embedded inside an existing organization or standalone on its own. It could be a simple room in a building or an outbuilding that’s closer to a shed. The key is that it can adapt to a wide variety of uses and can be shaped by educational purposes as well as the students’ creative goals” (Behen, 2013, pg. 72).

Makerspace Tools and Materials

Makerspaces can include but are not characterized by:

Workshop or Workspace

Digital Fabrication Equipment (3D Printers, 3D Scanners, Laser Cutter, Laser Engraving, Vinyl Cutter, CNC routers, etc.).

Digital Media Software and Open Source Software Applications (Adobe Photoshop, Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) Programs, etc.).

Open Source Hardware Software (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc.).

Electronics and Computers (Robotics, microcontrollers, etc.).

Textiles and Fiber Arts

Different Types of Machines (Embroidery, Espresso Book, Knitting, Laminating, Milling, Sewing, Routing, Stitching, and many more types of machines).

Power Tools (Drill, Jig Saw, Orbital Sander, Table Saw, Belt Sander, Drill Press, etc.).

Metalworking Tools

Welding Tools

Woodworking Tools

3D printers -- printers which produce 3D models from a digital file, generally out of plastics (Abram, 2013).

3D scanners -- scanners which create digital models of physical objects that can in turn be "printed" using 3D printers ("Makerspace," n.d.).

Laser cutters -- machines which have the ability to accurately cut or etch materials from a digital file ("Makerspace," n.d.).

Arduino -- microcontroller boards that have the ability to read input from sensors, control outputs like lights or motors, and connect to computer software (“What is Arduino?,” n.d.).

Raspberry Pi -- affordable computers no bigger than a credit card that plug into monitors and keyboards (“FAQs,” n.d.).

The Educate to Innovate Initiative and Maker Corps

In 2009, President Obama launched the initiative, “Educate to Innovate” (Schulman, 2013). The President said, "I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it's science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things" (Obama 2009).

From the “Educate to Innovate” initiative came, “The Maker Education Initiative’s” Maker Corps. Maker Corps was created to “empower young adults, makers themselves, to become role models and to help them inspire others in their communities to involve more children in making” (Thomas, 2012b, para.3). In the summer of 2013, The Maker Education Initiative introduced a Maker Corps pilot program. The Mission of this program is that, “Maker Corps will create teams of young makers who can share their enthusiasm for making and their love of learning with younger children and teens, offering support and encouragement that helps introduce them to science and technology in a personal way" (Thomas, 2012a, para.1).

Some of the “Maker Corps Mentors” from this year’s (2013) pilot program include: Arizona State University College of Technology and Innovation (Mesa, Arizona), Free Library of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (Baltimore, Maryland), LevelUP Teen Makerspace (Chicago, Illinois), the Children’s Museum of Houston (Houston, Texas), Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI-Portland, Oregon), The Exploratory (Los Angeles, California), The Da Vinci Center for Innovative Learning (Stockton, California), the New York Hall of Science, (Corona, New York), the Henry Ford Museum (Dearborn, Michigan), and many more (Davee, 2013, pg. 1). The goals of the Maker Corps program are to:

“Provide opportunities for makers to gain leadership skills, increase confidence and build career readiness skills” (Maker Corps, 2013, pg. 1).

“Expand the network of maker mentors and community leaders” (Maker Corps, 2013, pg. 1).

“Expose more youth and families to creative problem-solving through making” (Maker Corps 2013, pg. 1).

“Expand the capacity of youth-serving organizations to serve their communities in maker-oriented projects” (Maker Corps, 2013, pg. 1).

Why Libraries and Makerspaces?

Many public, school, and academic libraries have decided to join the “Maker Movement.” By joining the movement, libraries are providing their patrons with opportunities to experience by building, constructing, developing, and working on projects with others in their community and with those who share similar or mutual interests. Makerspaces in libraries can:

“Foster play and exploration” (Britton, 2012, para. 3).

“Facilitate informal learning opportunities” (Britton, 2012, para. 3).

“Nurture peer-to-peer training” (Britton, 2012, para. 3).

“Work with community members as true partners, not as users or patrons” (Britton, 2012).

“Develop a culture of creating as opposed to consuming” (Britton, 2012, para. 3).

“Reorient the library towards greater user engagement, collaborative creative activity, and participatory learning” (Bailey, 2012, para. 4).

“Position the library as a place of building, inventing, and doing instead of a static location of consumption and acquisition” (Bailey, 2012, para. 4).

“Cater to a particular type of library patron: inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, crafters and youth groups. The technology used in these workshops can revolutionize the manufacturing process, allowing designs and creations that can be modified to suit individuals in ways not possible with mass production” (Newcombe & Belbin, 2012, para.5)

“Help cultivate creative interests, imagination, and passion by allowing students to draw upon multiple intelligences” (Wong, 2013, pg. 35).

“Embrace tinkering, or playing, in various forms of exploration, experimentation and engagement, and foster peer interactions as well as the interests of a collective team” (Wong, 2013, pg. 35).

Examples of Makerspaces in Academic Libraries:

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh- The Labs (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

North Carolina State University- Open Hardware Makerspace (Raleigh, North Carolina)

North Carolina State University- The Hunt Library Makerspace (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Stanford University- FabLab@School (Stanford, California)

Stanford University- Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (TLTL) (Stanford, California)

The Library As Incubator Project (Madison, Wisconsin)

The University of Mary Washington- ThinkLab (Fredericksburg, Virginia)

The University of Michigan- 3D Lab (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Valdosta State University- Odum Library MakerSpace (Valdosta. Georgia)

Examples of Makerspaces in Public and School Libraries:

Allen County Public Library- The Maker Station (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

Chattanooga Public Library- 4th Floor Makerspace (Chattanooga, Tennessee)

Chicago Public Library- CHIPUBLIB MAKER LAB (Chicago, Illinois)

Cleveland Public Library- TechCentral (Cleveland, Ohio)

David C. Burrow Elementary School Media Center- Makerspace (Athens, Georgia)

Detroit Public Library- HYPE Makerspace Teen Center (Detroit, Michigan)

Fayetteville Free Library- FFL Fab Lab (Fayetteville New York)

Madison Public Library- Library Makers (Madison, Wisconsin)

New York Public Library- NYPL Labs (New York, New York)

Northern Onondaga Public Library- LibraryFarm (Cicero, New York)

Oak Park Public Library- Idea Box (Oak Park, Illinois)

Rangeview Library District: The Studio at Anythink Brighton (Brighton, Colorado)

Rangeview Library District: The Studio at Anythink Wright Farms (Thornton, Colorado)

Sacramento Public Library- I Street Press (Sacramento, California)

Salinas Public Library- Digital Arts Lab (Salinas, California)

Skokie Public Library- The Digital Media Lab (Skokie, Illinois)

St. Louis Public Library- Creative Experience Digital Makerspace (St. Louis, Missouri)

Tacoma Public Library- StoryLab (Tacoma, Washington)

Westport Public Library-Makerspace (Westport, Connecticut)

YOUmedia Lab-Chicago Public Library (Chicago, Illinois)

YOUmedia, Learning Labs, and Anythink Library District

Some makerspaces simply provide a space for people to come and tinker. Others provide digital media equipment for people to utilize in the creation of a variety of projects. One example of this is the YOUmedia network (www.youmedia.org). “YOUmedia are spaces where kids explore, express, and create using digital media. YOUmedia’s core philosophy is that youth are best engaged when they’re following their passions, collaborating with others, and being makers and doers, not passive consumers…YOUmedia are transformative spaces—and catalysts—for new kinds of thinking about libraries, museums, and community centers. The sites are open, flexible, and highly creative, with inspiration zones, production zones, and exhibition labs where youth ‘hang out, mess around, and geek out.’ YOUmedia connects three realms of learning—peer groups, interests, and academics—in deliberate ways. One of the most important aspects is that they connect learning directly back to school, careers, and other realms” (“About”).

YOUmedia started in Chicago, and is expanding in different ways across the country. One branch of YOUmedia is the Learning Labs Project, which began in September 2010. It is “an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation...in answer to President Obama’s ‘Educate to Innovate’ campaign, which called on public and private sector partners to work together to improve America’s student participation and performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)” (“Locations”). With a series of grants, the IMLS and the Foundation are working to set up 30 Learning Labs in libraries and museums across the country.

The Studio at Anythink Wright Farms (www.anythinklibraries.org/thestudio), a branch with the Rangeview Library District in Thornton, CO, is a recent addition to the Learning Lab initiative. In 2012, Anythink was awarded a $100,000 grant from IMLS and the MacArthur Foundation to build a digital lab. Built in the spring of 2013, The Studio has three sound-proof rooms (one of which is a recording studio), a green screen, video equipment, and the full Adobe Creative Suite. The idea behind The Studio is to fill teen’s technological needs and help them become contact creators. “At The Studio, it’s not just about what you do, but who you will become. We partner creative community members with teens to help push their creativity to new bounds. These creation labs are places where teens are connected with tools to express their creativity – whether they want to be performers, designers, filmmakers or sportscasters” (“The Studio”). With help from the Tween/Teen Guides (librarians), and the Artists in Residence, teens can learn 21st century technology skills, experiment with a variety of equipment, and fuel their interests.

In the recording studio, which can be used for two hours at a time, teens can record their voices and/or music, make podcasts, sports casts, voiceovers, and create their own beats. This room comes equipped with a computer with Garage Band editing software, a MIDI keyboard, microphones, and a guitar.

The recording studio

Next to the recording studio is a green screen, where teens can experiment with lighting techniques, and take pictures or record images with digital cameras available for check out. There is a nearby editing station where they can upload their videos or images, and substitute the green screen with whatever background they want – stationary or animated. Editing software available to them includes the Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, and the iLife Suite. They can also incorporate their creations from the recording studio into their final product.

Green screen

Computers for editing photos and videos

The Studio also includes graphic design and photo editing software, and two other sound-proof rooms, which can be spaces for video gaming, karaoke, and quiet places for studying. There is also an extra large Windows Surface that teens can use for web browsing, music, news feeds, and apps.

Surface Pro table top

Sound proof study rooms

Anythink, along with libraries and museums across the country, applied for this grant in a nationwide competition, and was one of the first 12 recipients of the grant. The other 11 locations (four museums and seven libraries) for learning labs included:

San Francisco Public Library (San Francisco, California)

Howard County Public Library (Columbia, Maryland)

St. Paul Public Library (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Kansas City Public Library (Kansas City, Missouri)

New York Hall of Science (New York, New York)

Columbus Metropolitan Library (Columbus, Ohio)

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Portland, Oregon)

Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology (Allentown, Pennsylvania)

Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Nashville Public Library Foundation (Nashville, Tennessee)

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, Texas) (Institute “21st Century”)

A second round of grants added learning labs to:

Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, Texas)

Madison Children’s Museum (Madison, Wisconsin)

Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California)

Science Museum of Virginia Foundation (Richmond, Virginia)

University of Alabama/Alabama Museum of Natural History (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Rochester Public Library (Rochester, New York)

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

City of Lynn, Massachusetts (Lynn, Massachusetts)

Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Parmly Billings Library Foundation, Inc. (Billings, Montana)

Pima County Public Library (Tucson, Arizona)

Poughkeepsie Public Library District (Poughkeepsie, New York) (Institute “New Grants”).

The Maker Movement

Even if a library can’t afford or doesn't have room to have a designated “makerspace,” there are other ways to get involved in the Maker movement. The Maker movement doesn't just include makerspaces, but all kinds of maker opportunities.

When looking into the Maker movement, Maker Media is a good name to know. Maker Media has been the driving force behind the Maker movement, beginning with the first publication of MAKE Magazine in 2005 (“Maker Media,” 2013). Maker Media produces the Maker Faire and Makezine, an online zine that offers makers project ideas, as well as Maker Shed, an online store that sells kits and other supplies for makerspaces.

Not having a “space” for your “Makerspace” doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to the Maker movement. For instance, a “Pop up Makerspace” is a temporary makerspace set up in an alternative location, like a classroom (Houston, 2013). Mobile makerspaces, which are able to be moved easily to and from a space and probably lower tech, are always an option (“Teen Makerspaces,” 2013). Makerspaces don’t have to have high tech tools like 3D printers. They can get started with as little as a few craft supplies and a rolling cart.

Another alternative is for a library to get involved in a Maker Faire. Touted as the “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth,” the Maker Faire is an annual celebration of the Maker movement (“Maker Faire,” 2013, para. 1). Maker Faires allow makers to share their creations and let others know about the Maker movement. Traditionally, the main Maker Faire is located in the Bay Area, as that is where the Faire started in 2006 (“Maker Faire,” 2013). But since the Maker movement has spread, so have Maker Faires, with a “World Maker Faire” taking place in New York City and “Mini Maker Faires” popping up around the world (“Maker Faire,” 2013). Mini Maker Faires are getting more popular as the Maker movement spreads. Even Urbana-Champaign, IL holds its own Mini Maker Faire to showcase makers in the community.

It is also possible to involve a local maker group, many of which have popped up around the country (i.e., Makerspace Urbana in Urbana, IL). Getting a community group involved in the library’s efforts may draw in extra interest, especially if they are well known.

Resources

Directories of Active and Operating Makerspaces Throughout the World

Hackerspaces Meetup Groups List

Hackerspaces Wiki

Labs, Fab Foundation Directory

Maker Community Groups

Maker Education Initiative Directory

Maker Faires Around the World List

Makerspace Directory

Makerspaces Meetup Groups List

MIT Fab Lab List

Mobile Makerspace Directory

National Tool Library Google Group

TechShop Locations

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation- Learning Labs Project Location Directory

The International Fab Lab Association: List of Fab Labs

The Maker Map- Find or Locate Maker Resources

The National After School Science Directory

Tool Lending Libraries Directory

YOUmedia Location Directory

Makerspace Project Ideas, Videos, and Tutorial Sites

Adafruit Learning Systems has tutorials on topics such as, how to use “Arduino,” and “Raspberry Pi.” It also provides project ideas, tools, trinkets, and so much more.

DIY.org allows members to share with others what they create. It also contains a variety of different projects and challenges.

FabLab@School Blog provides makerspace and project photos, videos, project ideas, tutorials, resources, and more.

Howtoons- “D.I.Y. Comic Website.”

Instructables has illustrated “DIY” guides on a variety of topics, such as, “Make an Electronic Music Box Powered by Arduino.”

K-12 Digital Fabrication Labs Discussion Group is a K-12 forum that discusses different “Digital Fabrication” topics.

Make It @ Your Library provides librarians with “Maker” project ideas.

Make It @ Your Library in partnership with the American Library Association and Instructables has launched a new website makeitatyourlibrary.org, which provides librarians with project ideas and resources.

Make: Makezine.com-"Contains a collection of projects, video, blogs, and so much more for makers and hackers."

Make: Projects contains a collection of different project ideas, such as “Make a Disney- Inspired Changing Portrait With a Raspberry Pi.”

Make: Videos contains a collection of how to make videos, such as “Star in a Jar.”

Makerspace.com contains a collection of how to make projects.

Sparkfun contains tutorials on many different categories, as well as, curriculum pages that presents educators, parents, students, etc. with curriculum “presentations and handouts.”

Teens Turning Green contains DIY programming ideas created by teens to encourage sustainable, healthy living.

The Exploratorium (San Francisco, California) provides different activities, videos, and more.

The Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio contains different project ideas and a listing of past “events, workshops, and more.”

How to Start a Tool Lending Library

Tool Library Toolkit via Sharestarter provides a how-to guide on starting your own tool lending (or any other lending) library.

Grants, Scholarships, and Crowd-Sourced Fundraising Sites For Makerspaces and Makers

Grant Sites

Cognizant Technology Solutions- Making The Future U.S. After-school and Summer Program Grants

DARPA

Lego Children’s Fund

GCAA Makerspace Grant Program

Grants for Makerspace Schools

PG&E- Bright Ideas Grant

STEMgrants.com

STEM Grants and Resources

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)- Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation-Learning Labs In Libraries And Museums Grant

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)- List of Grant Applicants

Scholarship Sites

Cognizant Technology Solutions- Making the Future U.S. College Scholarship Program for MakersING Unsung Heroes: Education scholarship for innovated classroom projects

Milton Fisher Scholarship for Innovation and Creativity

MindGear Labs

Crowd-Sourced Fundraising Sites

Crowdfunder

Crowdrise

GoFundMe

Indiegogo

Kickstarter

RocketHub

Budget and Funding Articles and Blog Links

Garcia, L. (2013). 6 Strategies for Funding a Makerspace. Edudopia.

Hlubinka, M. B. (2013). Funding School Makerspaces. Make.

Hlubinka. M. B. (2013). Stocking up School Makerspaces. Make.

Mt. Elliott Makerspace. (2013). "Make A Makerspace".

Print and Electronic Resources

Books on Makerspaces

Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. New York: Crown.

Frauenfelder, M. (2005). Make: Technology on Your Time. Sebastopol, CA: Dale Dougherty/O'Reilly Media.

Gabrielson, C. (2013). Tinkering: Kids Learning by Making Stuff. Sebastopol, CA : Maker Media

Hatch, M. (2013). The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers. New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Honey, M., & Kanter, D. (2013). Design, Make, Play: Growing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kemp, A. (2013). The Makerspace Workbench: Tools, Technologies, and Techniques for Making. Sebastopol, CA : Maker Media, Inc.

Lang, D. (2013). Zero to Maker: Learn (Just Enough) to Make (Just About) Anything. Sebastopol, CA : Maker Media, Inc.

Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G, (2013). Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press.

Preddy, L. (2013). School Library Makerspaces: Grades 6-12. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Roberts, D. (2010). Making Things Move : DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists. New York : McGraw-Hill

Roslund, S., & Rodgers, E.P. (2013). Makerspaces. Ann Arbor, MI: Cherry Lake Publishing.

Books on Arduino and Raspberry Pi

Baichtal, J. (2013). Arduino for Beginners: Essential Skills Every Maker Needs. [S.l.] : Que Publishing.

Margolis, M. (2011). Arduino Cookbook. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.

McComb, G. (2013). Arduino Robot Bonanza. New York : McGraw-Hill.

Monk, S. (2013). Raspberry Pi Cookbook. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.

O’Neill, T., & Williams, J. (2013). Arduino (21st Century Skills Innovation Library: Makers As Innovators). Ann Arbor, MI: Cherry Lake Publishing.

Partner, K. (2013). Raspberry Pi for Beginners. [S.l.] : Dennis Publishing.

Richardson, M., & Wallace, S.P. (2012). Getting Started with Raspberry Pi (Make: Projects). Sebastopol, CA : O'Reilly Media.

Severance, C. R., & Fontichiaro. (2013). Raspberry Pi (Makers As Innovators: 21st Century Skills Innovation Library). Ann Arbor, MI: Cherry Lake Publishing.

Electronic Resources

Makerspace. (2012). High School Makerspace Tools & Materials. O'Reilly Media.

Makerspace (2013). Makerspace Playbook. O'Reilly Media.

Makerspace. (2013). Makerspace Playbook: School Edition. Maker Media. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US.

Young Makers. (2012). Maker Club Playbook. O'Reilly Media.

Additional Web Resources

ACRL TechConnect Blog

Arduino.cc

ALA Online Community- Digital Media Labs

ALA Online Community- Makerspaces

Creative Commons

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century

Fab Central

Hackerspaces Wiki

Institute of Museum and Library Services- Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums

Learning Labs In Libraries and Museums Resource Information

Library as Makerspace Blog

Libraries & Maker Culture: A Resource Guide

MAKE magazine

MakerBot.com

Maker Faire.com

Maker Media.com

Maker Shed

Makered.org

Makerspace.com

Makerspaces and the Participatory Library- Facebook group

Makezine.com

Mt. Elliot Makerspace

Open Education Database (OEDb)- “A Librarian’s Guide to Makerspaces: 16 Resources”

Raspberry Pi.org

ShopBot Tools

SparkFun Electronics

Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning Blog

Teen Makerspaces @ Your Library

The MakerBridge Blog

Thingiverse- "Digital Designs for Physical Objects"

Young Makers.org

YOUmedia Network: Reimagining Learning in the 21st Century

References

Abram, S. (2013). Makerspaces in Libraries, Education, and Beyond. Internet@Schools, 20(2), 18-20.

“About.” The YOUmedia Network. Web. 14 Nov. 2013 www.youmedia.org/youmedia-network

Anythink: A Revolution of Rangeview Libraries. (2013). Anything Brighton Awarded Grant to Design Teen Makerspace. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.anythinklibraries.org/news-item/anythink-brighton-awarded-grant-design-teen-makerspace

Bagley, C. (2012) What is a Makerspace? Creativity in the Library. ALATechsource. Retrieved on November 10, 2013 from http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2012/12/what-is-a-makerspace-creativity-in-the-library.html

Bailey, J. (2012). From Stacks to Hacks: Makerspaces and LibraryBox. Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://metro.org/articles/from-stacks-to-hacks-makerspaces-and-librarybox/

Batykefer, E. (2013). The Youth Maker Library. Voice Of Youth Advocates, 36(3), 20-24.

Behen. L.D. (2013). Recharge Your Library Programs with Pop Culture and Technology: Connect with Today’s Teens. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited.

Britton, L. (2012). Making Space for Creation, Not Just Consumption. Library Journal. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/10/public-services/the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-just-consumption/

Colegrove, T. (2013). Editorial Board Thoughts: Libraries as Makerspace?. Information Technology & Libraries, 32(1), 2-5.

Davee, S. (2013). Celebrating Our Maker Corps Mentor Class of 2013. Maker Education Initiative: Every Child A Maker. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.makered.org/tag/maker-corps/

Education Innovator. (2013). Maker Education Initiative. Retrieved on November 9, 2013 from http://blog.nwp.org/educatorinnovator/partners/maker-education-initiative/

FAQs. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2013, from Raspberry Pi website: http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

Garcia, L. (2013). 6 Strategies for Funding a Makerspace. Edudopia. Retrieved on November 11, 2013 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/6-strategies-funding-makerspace-paloma-garcia-lopez

Graham, R. (2013). Bring Back Home ec! The Case for a Revival of the Most Retro Class in School. Boston Globe. Retrieved on November 19, 2013 from http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/10/12/bring-back-home/EJJi9yzjgJfNMqxWUIEDgO/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw.

Hlubinka, M. B. (2013). Funding School Makerspaces. Make. Retrieved on November 11, 2013 from http://makezine.com/2013/09/05/funding-school-makerspaces/

Hlubinka, M. B. (2013). Stocking up School Makerspaces. Make. Retrieved on November 11, 2013 from http://makezine.com/2013/08/21/stocking-up-school-makerspaces/

Houston, C. (2013). Makerspaces @ your school library: Consider the possibilities!. Kentucky Libraries, 77(3): 26-28.

Institute of Museum and Library Services. “National Competition Selects 12 Libraries and Museums to Build Innovative Learning Labs for Teens.” IMLS. Institute of Museum and Library Services, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. www.imls.gov/national_competition_selects_12_libraries_and_museums_to_build_innovative_learning_labs_for_teens.aspx

Institute of Museum and Library Services. “New Grants Help Museums and Libraries Connect Youth with Friends, Learning, and Mentors to Link Their Passions to Future Success.” IMLS. Institute of Museum and Library Services, 8 Nov. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2013 www.imls.gov/new_grants_help_museums_and_libraries_connect_youth_with_friends_learning_and_mentors_to_link_their_passions_to_future_success.aspx

Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2012). Talking Points: Museums, Libraries, and Makerspaces. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/Makerspaces.pdf

Kroski, E. (2013). A Librarian’s Guide to Makerspace: 16 Resources. Open Education Database (OEDB). Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/

“Locations: Learning Labs Project.” The YOUmedia Network. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. www.youmedia.org/locations/learning-labs

Maker Corps. (2013). Maker Education Initiative: Every Child A Maker-Maker Corps. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.makered.org/makercorp

Maker Faire: A Bit of History. (2013). Retrieved November 24, 2013, from Maker Faire website: http://makerfaire.com/makerfairehistory/

Maker Media (2013). Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://makermedia.com

Makerspace. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2013, from NSCU Libraries website: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/spaces/makerspace

Manufacturing MAKER SPACES. (2013). American Libraries, 44(1/2), 44.

Markham, D. (2013). Kids' Museum Challenges Throwaway Mentality with Repair Exhibition. Tree Hugger. Retrieved on November 19, 2013 fromhttp://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/kids-museum-challenges-throwaway-mentality-repair-exhibition.html.

Mt. Elliott Makerspace. (2013). Make A Makerspace. Retrieved on November 11, 2013 from http://www.mtelliottmakerspace.com/makeamakerspace/

National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (2007). Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology. Washington D.C.: National Academies Presses.

Newcombe.P., & Belbin, N. (2012). Fab Labs at the Library: Community ‘Makerspaces’ Give Access to Cutting-Edge Tools. Government Technology. Retrieved on November 9, 2013 from http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Fab-Labs--at-the-Library.html

Obama, B. Remarks by The President at The National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting. The White House Blog. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-National-Academy-of-Sciences-Annual-Meeting

Plemmons, A. (2012). Opening the Space: Making the School Library a Site of Participatory Culture. Knowledge Quest, 41(1), 8-14.

Schulman, K. (2013). White House Hangout: The Maker Movement. The White House Blog. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/03/27/white-house-hangout-maker-movement

Stoll, C. (2013). Makerspaces: Surveying the Scene in Illinois. ILA Reporter, 31(2), 4-9.

Teen makerspaces @ your library. (2013). Retrieved November 24, 2013, from Teen Librarian Toolbox website: http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2013/08/teen-makerspaces-your-library.html

“The Studio.” Anythink Libraries. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. www.anythinklibraries.org/thestudio

Thomas, A. (2012a). Introducing: Maker Corps. Maker Education Initiative: Every Child A Maker. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.makered.org/introducing-maker-corps/

Thomas, A. (2012b). Maker Corps Empowers The Next Generation of Innovators. Maker Education Initiative: Every Child A Maker. Retrieved on November 8, 2013 from http://www.makered.org/maker-corps-empowers-the-next-generation-of-innovators/

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[Tumblr Transcriber: Camilla Y-B]

#library resource #makerspace #STEAM #Wikispaces #STEM education

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hottytoddynews · 7 years

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Flags of the United States of America, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the state of Mississippi hang at the Chahta Enterprises Metal Fabrication plant.

It’s just before 5 p.m., and even though some of the lights have already been switched off, the electric hum from the large overhead fuorescents can still be heard as they slowly cool down. Even in the darkness, three flags can be seen hanging vertically from the rafters. In the center, the American fag. To its right, the state fag of Mississippi. To its left, the flag of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

This is no ordinary metal fabrication facility. Sure, sparks fy brightly as the intense heat from a welding torch makes contact with what will one day be part of an American-made flatbed trailer, an image that could just as easily be seen in industrial cities such as Detroit or Buffalo.

Here at the Chahta Enterprises Metal Fabrication Operation, however, the man behind the mask as sparks cascade around him is a Choctaw Indian. Twenty years ago, he might not have had the opportunity to hold a job like this. But here he is, part of a workforce more than 5,750 strong, all of them employed by the Mississippi Choctaw.

As the few remaining workers finish up on a bright orange trailer, another man emerges from behind a translucent yellow eye-shield. He’s tall and stocky and stands out even among the large machines that fill the room. He has dark skin and even darker, somewhat curly short black hair. His name is Mark Patrick, and he has been Director of Quality and Sales at Chahta Metal Works since the plant opened in 2014.

Patrick is quiet at first. Then I ask if he has any children. Patrick perks up a bit.

He tells me that he has two sons. One recently graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, using the tribe’s generous college scholarship program to pay for his education. His other son works here at the plant.

Upon completion, a flatbed trailer gets a sticker that shows Chahta Enterprises Metal Fabrication worked on it.

In a sense, Patrick embodies the remarkable resurrection of the Mississippi Choctaw, a group that a century ago was nearly extinct and a little over three decades ago sufered in seemingly hopeless poverty. Today the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is one of Mississippi’s largest employers, one of the nation’s most successful Indian nations, a glittering example of what can happen when government loosens its hold and allows a tribe to run its own affairs. It is a miraculous transformation, one of the greatest minority success stories in American history.

But how? How is it that now, a Choctaw like Patrick is able to send one son to college and give the other son the opportunity to work and sustain himself when just over one generation ago most of the tribe was living in utter poverty, barely making $2,000 a year?

The Choctaw tradition of business can be traced back to the 18th century, back when the Choctaw people had a strong economy based on communal ownership and responsibility. At one time in the South, pidgin Choctaw was the language of commerce. The Choctaw favored business over warfare, the sharing of goods over the shooting of arrows.

Marveling at their affinity for trade, Robert White, author of Tribal Assets, wrote that the Choctaw “were the late 20th-century Japanese of the pre-European South.”

After a series of treaties gradually tore land away from the Choctaw beginning in 1786 with the Treaty of Hopewell, tribal members who were able to avoid Removal, the Choctaw’s preferred term for the “Trail of Tears,” made their living sharecropping.

“Made their living” is a bit of an exaggeration, as thousands of Choctaw sharecroppers were forced into bitter poverty and wretched lives. On its website, the tribe’s own economic development history quotes a congressional investigator’s description of the Mississippi Choctaw in the early 1900s as “the poorest pocket of poverty in the poorest state in the country.”

By 1910, the number of Choctaw in the state had dwindled to just 1,253. In 1918, one-fifth of the remaining population was killed in a flu epidemic. For years, the survivors barely existed in the poor red clay farmland of hill country Mississippi.

In 1945, this tattered remnant fnally won tribal recognition from the federal government. But it took more than federal acceptance for the tribe to emerge from its economic doldrums. During the 1950s, tribal leaders had seen little to no improvement in the desperate living conditions of their people, even with what help they were able to get from the forever financially strapped Bureau of Indian Affairs. Average annual income was $600 per family, with most lucky to make more than $2.50 a day on farm wages.

The tribe needed a savior. It found him in Phillip Martin, whose knack for economic development has since become legend to Native Americans across the land.

Martin started out on the Tribal Council but became chief in 1978. From the beginning, he was convinced that the tribe would never be successful depending on the federal government to save it. With 80 percent of the Choctaw unemployed, Martin knew what the tribe desperately needed most: jobs.

Franklin Taylor (white shirt) and Toby Steve process bed sheets and table cloths at the tribe’s busy commercial laundry.

In 1969, Martin led the tribe to seize upon the one opportunity he could see at the time, federally funded housing. The tribe launched Chahta Development, a construction company. Instead of letting the feds continue to pay contractors to build low-income housing on the reservation, the Choctaw got the feds to pay Chahta Development to build the houses.

The tribe didn’t just begin a construction company that day. It began an economic resurgence that would expand to provide almost 6,000 permanent, full-time jobs and a payroll of more than $100 million. The tribe became one of Mississippi’s major employers, with enough money to establish a scholarship program that pays for a Choctaw’s college education and gives students a stipend to live on as well as a laptop, ultimately preparing them to hold more specialized jobs.

In the two decades ending in 1999, household income on the reservation jumped from $2,500 to $24,000, while unemployment fell to about 2 percent. Between 1985 and 2000, life expectancy in the tribe rose 20 years. It’s only gotten better from there.

Talk to anyone on the reservation about how the tribe was able to pull it of and the conversation goes right back to Phillip Martin. He is revered much like a saint, a Moses fgure leading his people out of a wilderness of poverty and into the promised land of prosperity.

“He was a natural-born leader,” John Hendrix, the tribe’s economic development director, says about Martin as we sit in the conference room of Chahta Enterprises. We’re sitting in building A of the TechParc, a campus of multiple buildings that house Choctaw business and industry. Martin hired Hendrix in 1993 after he had acquired a business degree from Millsaps College. He got the job even though he is not a Choctaw, a regular occurrence at the time, considering more than half of their employees were not Native Americans.

“I think what got (Martin’s) spark was that he was stationed over in Europe after World War II,” Hendrix says. “So he saw Europe rebuild itself after the war, and he came back and said, ‘Well, we can do that, too.’ He wasn’t a micro-manager; he just intuitively knew what needed to be done and he hired the right people for the job.”

Unlike some bosses, Martin was always open to letting people work on new ideas that had potential to better the tribe.

“He had a very entrepreneurial approach to management, and he discouraged red tape and bureaucracy.

“If somebody had an idea, even if it wasn’t directly their job, Martin would let them try it,” Hendrix says. “And if it didn’t work, he didn’t fire them. He had a very flat management structure, and it worked.”

Martin’s Mississippi miracle was nothing less than a revolution. In time, it would inspire other tribes across America to subscribe to his self-help philosophy.

In a state that regularly ranks at the bottom in terms of per capita income, the scope of the Choctaw’s economic influence is impressive. The tribe has 12 businesses, ranging from Defense contracting to growing organic vegetables to commercial laundry services. They have a brand-new health center and three casinos that since the first one opened in 1994 have provided thousands of jobs.

Mark Patrick, behind the welder’s mask, finishing up work on a flatbed trailer.

Martin kicked it of with sheer force of personality. He coaxed the tribe into springing for an industrial park with no tenants in sight. Then he criss-crossed the country for years, buttonholing business executives and trying to sell them on moving to the reservation.

Finally, he lured a plant that hired Choctaws to install the spaghetti-like tangle of wiring in automobiles. He got American Greetings, a billion-dollar player in the lucrative greeting card industry, to move into a 120,000-square-foot plant on the reservation. He talked the neighboring town of Philadelphia into using municipal revenue bonds to help pay for it. He made the tribe a powerful lobbying force in Washington, D.C., where he was a familiar figure in the offices of senators, congressmen and federal agencies. And with that, the empire began to grow. So did the tribe’s reputation, which made it that much easier to recruit industry and key employees.

In 1988, Congress approved the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which allowed tribes to get into the casino business. Indian gaming took America by storm.

The Choctaw met initial resistance from state government but in 1994, with the help of a new governor, Kirk Fordice, a towering hotel and casino complex rose from the red dirt on an otherwise unremarkable stretch of state highway in rural Neshoba County.

The Silver Star Hotel and Casino is an elaborate gambling palace with four restaurants, entertainment venues, first class hotel and a sea of slot machines and card games. If the Silver Star is not enough excitement, a covered walkway soars guests over the adjacent highway and into a sister casino and hotel complex, the Golden Moon, which opened in 2002. (A third, Bok Homa, is a two-hour drive from the frst two.) Along with two championship golf courses and a water park, they make up the multi-million-dollar Pearl River Resort, which quickly became the tribe’s major source of revenue. An economic impact statement prepared by Mississippi State University once estimated that the resort businesses generated more than $180 million in wages alone.

All of this has given the tribe the ability to take care of itself. And it does. But not, as some tribes do, by giving large annual payments to rank-and-file members. The latest semi-annual check the Choctaw sent to each member was a demure $500. The total annual payment is limited to $1,000 per member.

The day starts early at the greenhouses.

Instead, they do something much more valuable for fellow Choctaws. All that money from this self-made empire gets plowed back into programs and services that are the envy of poorer tribes — a 120-bed nursing home, subsidized housing, transportation, day care, Head Start, food programs for the elderly, programs for those struggling with substance abuse and addiction. If a tribal member needs a job or a house, the tribe can help. It is a business juggernaut and miniature Great Society rolled into one. And, most remarkably, the Choctaw were doing it even before casino gambling came along.

It’s a rainy St. Patrick’s Day in Tucker, not far from Choctaw, where the tribal government is headquartered. The Tucker Elementary School, one of eight reservation schools, is having its annual spring festival inside a gymnasium.

The program has “Halito!” written across the top in dark green. It means “hello” and is heard multiple times as Choctaw children in brightly-colored traditional garb begin to fill forest-green bleachers. Some of the girls’ dresses cost upward of $800. Some are homemade. Many conceal at least 40 safety pins, needed just to hold everything together.

The Choctaw also supply organic vegetables to commercial markets like Whole Foods as far away as Jackson.

The Choctaw Princess, Emily Shoemake, is here, almost at the end of her year-long term. The princess is beautiful, her dress covered in rose print, a crown atop her head and a hand-woven basket held in the crook of her left arm.

Shoemake almost wasn’t able to fulfll her duties as princess. As a mechanic in the 91 Bravo Humvee unit, she was supposed to go off to Army basic training a few weeks into her term. Current Chief Phyliss Anderson wrote a letter pleading her case, and the Army allowed her to report immediately after she finished her term.

The spring festival is meant to showcase the children and traditional Choctaw dances, as well as celebrate their culture. I look inside the program and see a few dances I recognize, like the “Snake Dance,” which mimics the slithering of a snake as dancers hold hands and weave in and out of an ever-changing line. As I scan further inside, I see a name I recognize:

“Invocation — Mark Patrick”

Sure enough, Mark Patrick emerges shortly after the start of the festival to say a prayer in Choctaw. The only words I recognize are “Jesus Christ” and “Amen.” He’s wearing a green shirt for St. Patrick’s Day.

“It’s my day, Patrick,” he jokes after walking over to where I’m leaning up against a padded gym wall.

Patrick is anything but quiet here. He’s a fxture in the Choctaw community. He knows everyone. Speaks to everyone. Waves at everyone. He spots a 14-year-old girl and asks how her driving test is coming along. He asks where her mother is and says he needs to talk to her.

Field Coordinator and Greenhouse Manager Daphne Snow with her precious cargo of fresh produce.

“What did I do?” the girl snaps back. She’s heard this question before.

I ask Patrick how he knows everyone so well, and he tells me he likes doing a lot of community outreach. When he grew up, he says, he had no idea who his father was. His grandmother raised him and wove baskets to support him.

“I just know everybody,” Patrick says. “A lot of the kids look for that father or mother figure or infuence in their lives, and it means a lot to me.”

Patrick watches as children perform the Raccoon Dance. “Some of these kids have no clue what they’re doing or why they’re out there,” he says. “But they’ll realize it soon enough.”

It’s true, and these children don’t know it yet, but the opportunities they have even at this age already outnumber what their parents and grandparents had. An older Choctaw teacher in a magenta zip-up jacket watches her class dance on the Dreamsicle-orange basketball court. She won’t reveal her name. She’s there to watch one of her last classes in 40-plus years of teaching school.

“I feel like I’m watching my grandkids out there now,” she says. “Things have changed so much.”

John Hendrix became the tribe’s director of economic development in 1993 after getting a business degree from Millsaps College.

When I ask how she’s seen the opportunities for children in her classes change over the years, she finally turns to look at me.

She says she’s seen countless children grow up without having a chance. She’s seen kids whose only job opportunities were spending their years behind the wheel of a school bus, kids used to having no hope of a better life.

Things are diferent now. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has more jobs than they do working-age Choctaw these days. Average income has risen, education has improved, anyone who needs a home gets one, an economic impact report once pegged the tribe’s contribution to the state GDP at around $1.2 billion, and the chances to succeed have never been higher.

The children dancing and laughing in the middle of this gym on a rainy St. Patrick’s Day are no longer just Choctaw kids. They’re comeback kids.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Ariel Cobbert, Mrudvi Bakshi, Taylor Bennett, Lana Ferguson, SECOND ROW: Tori Olker, Josie Slaughter, Kate Harris, Zoe McDonald, Anna McCollum, THIRD ROW: Bill Rose, Chi Kalu, Slade Rand, Mitchell Dowden, Will Crockett. Not pictured: Tori Hosey PHOTO BY THOMAS GRANING

The Meek School faculty and students published “Unconquered and Unconquerable” online on August 19, 2016, to tell stories of the people and culture of the Chickasaw and Choctaw. The publication is the result of Bill Rose’s depth reporting class taught in the spring. Emily Bowen-Moore, Instructor of Media Design, designed the magazine.

“The reason we did this was because we discovered that many of them had no clue about the rich Indian history of Mississippi,” said Rose. “It was an eye-opening experience for the students. They found out a lot of stuff that Mississippians will be surprised about.”

Print copies are available October 2016.

For questions or comments, email us at [email protected].

The post Unconquered and Unconquerable: The Resurrection of the Choctaw appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

#hottytoddy #olemiss #oxfordms #oxford ms #mississippi #university of mississippi #the grove

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livisavampire-blog · 7 years

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Judy Pfaff http://www.judypfaffstudio.com Judy Pfaff was born in London, England, in 1946. She received a BFA from Washington University, Saint Louis (1971), and an MFA from Yale University (1973). Recipient, Academy Member Fellowship, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2013); Anonymous Was A Woman Award (2013); MacArthur Fellowship (2004); Guggenheim Fellowship (1983); National Endowment for the Arts grants (1979, 1986); member, American Academy of Arts and Letters. Numerous solo exhibitions and group shows in major galleries and museums in the United States and abroad. Commissions include Pennsylvania Convention Center Public Arts Projects, Philadelphia; large-scale site-specific sculpture, GTE Corporation, Irving, Texas; installation: vernacular abstraction, Wacoal, Tokyo, Japan; and set design, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Work in permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Detroit Institute of Arts; others. Milton Avery Distinguished Professor of Art, Bard College (1989, 1991). https://art21.org/artist/judy-pfaff/ Judy Pfaff was born in London, England, in 1946. She received a BFA from Washington University, Saint Louis (1971), and an MFA from Yale University (1973). Balancing intense planning with improvisational decision-making, Pfaff creates exuberant, sprawling sculptures and installations that weave landscape, architecture, and color into a tense yet organic whole. A pioneer of installation art in the 1970s, Pfaff synthesizes sculpture, painting, and architecture into dynamic environments, in which space seems to expand and collapse, fluctuating between the two- and three-dimensional. Pfaff’s site-specific installations pierce through walls and careen through the air, achieving lightness and explosive energy. Pfaff’s work is a complex ordering of visual information, composed of steel, fiberglass, and plaster as well as salvaged signage and natural elements such as tree roots. She has extended her interest in natural motifs in a series of prints integrating vegetation, maps, and medical illustrations, and has developed her dramatic sculptural materials into set designs for several theatrical stage productions. Pfaff has received many awards, including a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award (2004); a Bessie (1984); and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1983) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1986). She has had major exhibitions at Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison (2002); Denver Art Museum (1994); St. Louis Art Museum (1989); and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (1982). Pfaff represented the United States in the 1998 Bienal de São Paulo. Pfaff lives and works in Kingston and Tivoli, New York. Video https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/judy-pfaff-making-feeling-short/ In this video she describes knowing what she wants the piece to end up feeling like but not exactly what it's gonna look like or what she wants it to look like because there's a lot of things you can't control in art. She says if you're in a piece you're in a day and night it's kind of like an actor or actress who can't break character. http://www.ricegallery.org/judy-pfaff/ Judy Pfaff is a pioneer of installation art and one of its most influential practitioners. Since the start of her prolific career as a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and installation artist, Pfaff has been recognized for her innovative approach to space. In the 1970s, when the dominant trend in art was “cool” in feeling and minimalist in form, Pfaff began making colorful, visually active environments that encompassed an entire gallery. Not limiting herself to a single medium, she incorporated a range of everyday and industrial materials such as wire, plastic tubing, and fabric into carefully structured installations that appeared to be spontaneous. In 2004, Pfaff was named a MacArthur Fellow and joined the illustrious roster of recipients of what is colloquially known as the “genius grant.” The installation’s title, … . . all of the above, is an idiom Pfaff uses often. Connoting a wide sweep of possibilities, it is an apt choice for an artist whose work thrives on the complexity of life and fluidity of the creative process. “We live in an unsettled, unstable world,” says Pfaff. “It is raucous and staccato … and an installation, with its total openness, allows me to plunge into that spacey void and edit the chaos into a dramatic and sensual environment.” Work on … . . all of the above began in Pfaff’s 2,100 square foot studio in upstate New York, not far from where she teaches at Bard College. In mid-January, Pfaff and four assistants arrived in Houston, bringing with them a truck full of tools, welders, pre-cut installation components, as well as raw material, and began to experiment. Pfaff enters an exhibition space not knowing exactly what will happen. She must rely on her knowledge, skill, and experience to carry her through. “What form it takes, what happens during making it, that’s probably 30 or 40%, but usually I have a pretty strong idea about what it is going to be about,” says Pfaff. Her process is gutsy and fluid - there is no “safe” fallback plan. Her work has been described as “danc(ing) at the edge of chaos.” Pfaff’s art is quintessentially site-specific; her installations grow organically within their spaces as she accumulates, subtracts, and refines their elements. Walking into … . . all of the above is like entering a three-dimensional drawing; the gallery is filled with overlapping linear elements with a variety of materials suspended and layered in space. There is no focal point, but rather an environment to be explored and experienced. Vines, gathered from the artist’s upstate New York property and stained with dye, snake across the ceiling like lines brushed in Sumi ink. Tattered pieces of matte black foil, the sort used on photographer’s lights, cling to the vines like rotting matter. Huge white spirals of welded steel rings entwine themselves with the vines while drippy parallel lines run across the walls like an exercise in perspective drawing. To create these elegant arcing marks, Pfaff dipped rope in dye and then snapped it against the wall, a dramatic drawing gesture writ large. Yellow and orange Day-Glo string crisscrosses the room and angles to the floor. Activated by UV light, the luminous geometry of the string contrasts with the dark meandering nature of the vines. Metal spheres cast from cannonballs hang from the ceiling like plumb bobs. On the floor different-sized circles of foam board coated with joint compound are stacked into Dr. Seuss-like towers.

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