Last updated on March 1, 2016
By: Blake Bouza, Assistant Editor
The Artisan’s Alliance at Volunteer State Community College is undergoing a name change.
Taylor Matson, president of the club, said that with Artisan’s Alliance, “it was limited to those in the Fine Arts Programs, and without an organization outside of the SGA to align with and be guided by.”
With the rebranding of “Makerspace,” Matson said he wants to make it easier for students to express their creativity with tools students would not normally afford and accessibility students can rely on.
In addition to the club at Vol State, Matson said they are aligned with Nashville Makerspace, which will have a large space in Nashville with precise tool for engineering and creation by the end of the year.
With the Maker Movement, Matson said he hopes that the club can show Tennessee wants to get involved more and bring creativity here, since the movement is spreading rapidly from coast-to-coast.
“If a student or anybody really wants to get involved, they main thing they are gonna want to do is the workshops we have every week,” Matson said.
“No dates and times are not set in stone for anything, but at every workshop we do, it will be about learning and creating with tools you have not used before. And at the end of each semester, we will host a showcase of all the work we have done.
“Also, at the end of each year in September, we are aligned to be apart of the Nashville Mini Maker Faire’s hosted by the Adventure Science Center,” said Matson.
On the benefits of joining Makerspace, and who should join, Matson said they want to make the future.
“But we can only do it with the help of the common person. We would really love representation of more races, identities, and freshman as well,” he said.
“I think renaming Artisan’s Alliance to Makerspace will help to encourage people of all artistic pursuits to become a member of the club, as well as broaden what the club is about,” said Evan Preston, member of Makerspace.
“It’s my hope that anyone with a creative or artistic passion will see our club as a way to share their works with others like them, and with the student body of Vol State as a whole,” Preston said.
According to openeducationdatabase.org, “Makerspaces are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn. In libraries they often have 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies and tools, and more.”
Matson said that the Maker movement workshop idea is a radical change from the Artisan’s Alliance, and that he hopes students will be interested in the projects the club puts out.
“There are so many amazing things happening in the Maker movement right now, especially the exponential expansion that we see for the coming decade. This program is really a game changer for people who get involved,” Matson said.
Students interested in joining should contact Matson at tmatson@volstate.edu or contact faculty advisor Sue Mulcahy at sue.mulcahy@volstate.edu.
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