The Maker's Center

The Maker’s Center story begins almost a decade ago when several of our members discovered “makerspaces” in the larger cities and neighboring states.

A makerspace is a nonprofit, collaborative, community workshop where a group of people pools their resources (usually tools, technology, and art) for the common good of making, learning, exploring, and sharing.

• At most makerspaces, you pay a low monthly fee­­­–like at a gym–but instead of exercising your body, you exercise your mind and your hands.
• Many makerspaces give you access to tools like 3D printers, robotics, electronics, computers, word-working tools, and art supplies… but a makerspace can include anything its members want the space to include.
• Think of it as a community garage.

What’s important to remember about a makerspace is that you actually make stuff.

Author and university professor, John Spencer, writes:

I see a makerspace as simply a space designed and dedicated to hands-on creativity. The key thing is that members actually make something. Creativity is always idea-generation, and it often includes problem-solving. But in a makerspace, you actually create some kind of product. It might be a digital product or a physical product. But there is an actual product. It’s a space devoted to and set up for making.

Many makerspaces offer classes, events, and interest groups to share skills and knowledge. They are built around the belief…

 “You have skills to share with me, and I have skills to share with you.”

The idea of a makerspace can be difficult to grasp for someone who has grown up with a building full of tools, a garage big enough for special projects, and with family or mentor-support. However, try to imagine…

• Living in a home or apartment that doesn’t include a garage or tool shed.
• Not having the tools to build what you want to build, not having the money to buy the technology you want to buy, or not having the space to create the art you want to create.
• Needing a teacher or mentor to advance your career or a desired hobby, but not knowing where to find such a person.

With even greater urgency, imagine that you are without a job. Every time you apply for a job the app asks you to list your skills, but you really don’t have any.

Where would you go to acquire employable skills? In hundreds of cities around the world, you would go to a makerspace.

Several of our leaders were burdened that such a space didn’t exist in the greater Charleston area. In short, God brought everything together–the building, leaders, and tools–to launch The Maker’s Center in 2020.

While our initiative is similar to other makerspaces worldwide, we desire to emphasize that God is the Maker of heaven and earth. All our creating, designing, and innovation prove that we were made in the Maker’s image.