Making art while making friends

By Ruth Melville
Photos by C. J. Sosna

The Hub has been host to a variety of public events since it opened its doors less than a year ago, but none has been as lively as the pop-up makerspace that took place on Jan. 26.

This first-time event was organized by Norfolk NET as part of their mission to build relationships in the community. Erick Olsen, pastor of the Congregational Church and a prime organizer of Norfolk NET, has been thinking about how best to create a permanent makerspace in town. This three-hour pop-up was to get a feel for how such a space might work, and to inform and interest people in the possibilities of a makerspace.

For three hours, people of all ages—from four to over 80—tried their hand at a variety of crafts under the watchful eye of skilled makers. These experienced craftspeople had carefully chosen projects and techniques that anyone, of whatever age or manual dexterity, could try out and come away with a small, completed object.

And if energy flagged, there was free coffee and donuts.

Participants could learn to weave on a small cardboard loom with Marie-Christine Perry, make a mobile with Karen Rossi, hammer out a copper impression and turn it into a pin with John Thew, or sew a cotton doll with Eve Thew.

Two of the mentors were informative rather than hands-on. Woodworker Paul-Robert Blackman had a lathe on display and a selection of his work, while Ross Burke had charts and posters on the use of tools—both physical (the caliper) and intellectual (the golden mean and the Fibonacci series)—for the design of arts and crafts.

Rachel Molcyk, a teacher from Goshen, was there all morning with her husband and two stepdaughters, who went from table to table, trying pretty much every craft on offer. “This is perfect for winter,” Molcyk said, “when you want to get out and do something but the weather is bad.”

It’s hard to convey the feeling of joy in the room. Looking around the Hub bustling with activity and alive with the sound of hammers tapping, sewing machines whirring, scissors snipping and needles clacking, Erick Olsen—who tried a bit of weaving himself—couldn’t stop grinning. The makerspace had turned out just as he’d hoped: people making relationships, building community, all while having fun and being creative.