The Makerspace (Sawyer 248)

The Makerspace and FabLab are inclusive communities of practice that foster critical making, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative problem-solving across campus. We partner with students, faculty, and staff to support curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular projects, as well as departmental initiatives that address real-world challenges.

Expertise: David and his student workers transform ideas into tangible outcomes using traditional and emerging technologies. Student workers gain hands-on experience applying technical skills, creativity, and critical thinking to develop innovative solutions while supporting the campus community.

Costs: We do not charge for labor and ask only for reimbursement of materials to help keep supplies available for future projects.

Makerspace: We offer state-of-the-art equipment, materials, and a connection to our campus network of MakersWeb studios. Contact [email protected] to discuss your project.

• Expertise: 3D scanning, modeling, printing, and post-processing; laser cutting and engraving; microcontroller prototyping with Arduino and Raspberry Pi; woodworking; and metalworking.

The FabLab (Sawyer 247)

FabLab: We welcome you to explore fiber arts during Open Hours. Bring your own project, start a new one with support from our student workers, or join a free artist-led workshop and leave with a new skill and a finished piece. Contact [email protected] to discuss your project.

• 

  The FabLab (Sawyer 247)

  Expertise: bookbinding, button making, cardmaking, Cricut stickers, crocheting, drawing, embroidery, knitting, mold making, needle felting, paper crafts, quilting, rope making, sewing, spinning, T-shirt printing, visible mending, weaving, and zine-making.
• Group reservations: Faculty, students, and staff can reserve the FabLab and student support for classes, RSOs, and group activities. Capacity: 14 in the FabLab, plus a nearby breakout room for 24.

Our student workers also publish blog posts that synthesize and contextualize their contributions, amplifying the work of project stakeholders and sharing knowledge with a broader audience. We are committed to sustainability and prioritize the use of upcycled and reclaimed materials whenever possible.

Critical Making

Critical making is a practice that combines critical thinking with hands-on making to explore or critique the relationship between technology, art, design, and social issues [1]. “Critical making is an elision of two typically disconnected modes of engagement in the world—‘critical thinking,’ often considered as abstract, explicit, linguistically based, internal and cognitively individualistic; and ‘making,’ typically understood as material, tacit, embodied, external and community-oriented” [2]. It is a way of learning through doing, where the act of making is used as a tool for critical reflection and analysis.

If I’m studying a piece of art, but have no idea how it’s made, my capacity to learn from and about it is limited. But if I can walk down the hall and see – and even try – those techniques, I’ll have a far greater understanding.     — Williams Art History student

Location and Hours

• Makerspace Open Hours: Sawyer Library, Room 248
• FabLab Open Hours: Sawyer Library, Room 247

Program Manager: David Keiser-Clark
Contact: [email protected]
Social media: instagram