In 2018, Matt’s Maker Space funded a Year of Making at the library. This funding allowed the library to provide collaborative programming with local organizations such as; Pittsburgh Center for the Arts/Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Heinz History Center, the Carnegie Science Center and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.
These programs explored the components of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) for children in grades K-8. Middle School children had the chance to create digital animation, design apps, build raku-fired pottery, develop film from pinhole cameras, and participate in a 10-day artist-in-residency program in metalsmithing. Elementary-age children explored robotics, learned the fundamentals of drawing and painting, had fun with math and chemistry, and learned how to code.
Programs ranged from multi-part workshops to one-time events. They took place after school, on in-service days, on weekends, and in the summer. For our Matt’s Maker Space programs that required registration, we served: 121 Kindergarten - 2nd Graders 154 3rd-5th graders 46 6th-8th graders These numbers are only for registration events and do not include the non-registration programs, which included the Preschoolers CAN Code program (anywhere from 50-100 preschoolers), the Summer Reading Kickoff Artbots station (several hundred kids), and the Matt's Maker Kickoff event (several hundred kids).
Patron feedback was extremely positive about these programs and many asked if we would be able to have more in 2019. The branding was very successful and patrons regularly ask for the programs by the name “Matt’s Maker.”
Thanks to the generosity of the organization, we kicked off another Year of Making with Matt's Maker Space on January 22nd, 2019. In 2019 Matt’s Maker Space programming has been expanded to include middle school teens. To find out about our 2019 programs for children and teens look out for our Matt's Maker Space @ MLPL logo in our event calendar or add Matt's Maker to our Eventkeeper calendar search box.
For more information about Matt's Maker Space please visit:
The Matt's Maker Space Official Website
The Pittsburgh Foundation's Story on Matt's Maker Space
