Mark Benjamin, 8, makes a Christmas present out of wood at Decatur Makers.

The Maker Movement embraces the idea that learning is done best through doing. It includes do-it-yourself individuals and groups that create things, says Irm Diorio, executive director of Decatur Makers. While some makers work in maker spaces, others tinker in their homes and garages. Maker interests include robotics, electronics, metalworking, woodworking and traditional arts and crafts.

Try your hand at these local maker spaces–the spaces offer community, encouragement and expertise.

Decatur Makers

Decatur Makers is a community of people who work together to discover, understand, design and create. Members get 24-7 access to the space, use of shared equipment, tools they are approved to use and materials. 

Geekspace Gwinnett, Suwanee

At Geekspace Gwinnett, a space is offered for makers of all kinds to gather and tinker. Members have access to available tools and machinery. There is also a variety of classes and events for members and non-members alike.

Mass Collective, Atlanta

MASS Collective is a network of artists, engineers, and craftsmen who teach classes on everything from blacksmithing to woodworking. There is access to tools, technologies and teachers in a variety of disciplines.

The Maker Station, Marietta

The Maker Station is a collaborative workspace where curious and like-minded individuals can come together to work on projects, discover new areas of interest, develop a new business idea, or simply grow their personal hobbies.

The Hapeville Maker Space

The Hapeville Maker Space offers a variety of STEAM-focused workshops for all ages. This includes a fashion studio with sewing machines and mannequins, a technology lab, an art studio and more with endless amounts of creative material.

Meet Five Atlanta Maker Families

Families who work on projects together have discovered what others in the Maker Movement have learned – the desire to be creators helps them solve real-world problems, strengthens a can-do attitude and brings them closer as a family.

The Bee-Lindgrens

Who: Pam and Bert Bee-Lindgren, Rowan, 11, Erik, 13 and Max, 15.

How they became makers: Pam’s grandfather taught her to use tools, hand drills and miter boxes, and her grandmother taught her to sew and crochet. Bert says he grew up taking things apart. “As I got older I got into fixing appliances,” Bert says. “That grew into a general tinkering with things that were needed around the house or in life.”

Favorite projects: The Bee-Lindgrens go all out for robotics and school STEAM projects. Once Erik was trying to answer the question “Why doesn’t Mars have an atmosphere?” and he experimented with cloud chambers. “We made 19 different cloud chambers,” Bert says.

Advice for building a maker life:Pam says they support their children’s interests. “Our attitude is anyone can do this as long as you are guided or given the information that you need,” she says. Being a maker, Bert says, “helps kids to follow through on ideas, and not just the accomplishment, but also being able to refine, improve and learn new things.”

Dawn Myers and sons

Who: Dawn Myers, Mark Benjamin, 8, and Jack Benjamin, 11.

Their favorite project: Every year the family spends the summer making Christmas gifts, which always involves some kind of woodworking. “One year we made a bird feeder out of sticks we picked up in the backyard,” Myers says. They’ve also made pine needle wreaths, Popsicle stick sleds and treasure boxes with each recipient’s name burned on the box. Myers says it is empowering when they finish their Christmas presents every year and see all the items they created. “They think, if I can make a box maybe I can make a cabin. If I’m capable of this, what else am I capable of?” Myers says.

Advice for building a maker life:“We question everything and do a lot of exploring,” Myers says. Myers also loves the encouragement and direction she and her sons receive at their maker space, Decatur Makers.

The Volins

Who: Emily Yewell Volin and Curtis Volin, Vera, 13, and Yewell, 15.

How they became makers: “Our children always loved creative toys and creating in general,” Emily says of the kids who loved construction toys like Legos. “They are tinkerers. When they aged out of the traditional toy market, we wanted to find ways to foster that creativity.”

Favorite projects: The entire family has been involved in robotics for six years, with the kids’ elementary
and middle schools in Cobb County and with the organization FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Because of Yewell’s fascination with ships and his desire to be a shipwright as an adult, Yewell and Curtis are building a model skipjack together.

Advice for building a maker life: “I try to do practical things, like involving them in repairing fences or items that have a purpose in the long run,” Curtis says. Emily says that especially in Robotics, it can be frustrating when things don’t work, but that teaches patience. “Trial and error is a part of the engineering process that builds resiliency,” Emily says.

The Hasty Family

Who: Gary Hasty and his son, Wilson, 17.

How they became makers: “We were always making things at home,” Hasty says. Wilson, who graduated from Harrison High School and is attending Chattahoochee Technical College, wanted to get a part-time job at a local pin ball arcade, and one of the job requirements is soldering, so they joined The Maker Station in Marietta so the two could take classes.

Favorite project: Gary and Wilson are making a “Useless Box” together. “To me it was something that encompassed all these different things you can do in a maker space,” Gary says. “It’s wooden outside, you wire it on the inside, and then you have the logic with the Raspberry Pi.” The two also make Halloween props for their house every year. “One year we did a whole Scooby Doo theme,” Hasty says. The two built a laser vortex that made 40-foot lasers and they added a fog machine and foam boards to the windows of the house. “We could go out and buy, but it feels so much better to make it and customize it,” Hasty says. “I don’t want to order off Amazon. I want to make it and see how it works.”

The Hoffner-Martins

Who: Jenny Hoffner and Jason Martin, Aviva Hoffner-Martin, 8, and Bella Hoffner-Martin, 13.

How they became makers: Martin grew up on a farm where he says the maker life is a way of life. Martin’s wife Jenny makes her own teas and herbal remedies and enjoys building with Cob, a natural building material usually made from subsoil, water, sand and straw. The family also helps Martin with STE(A)M Truck, maker spaces on wheels, of which he is the founder and executive director.

Favorite project: The entire family helped their neighbors build a 15- by 15-foot playhouse out of Cob on their neighborhood playground in East Lake Cohousing Community.

Advice for building a maker life: Martin suggests parents give their kids access to technology and a variety of maker projects even if they don’t seem interested right away. “Families might not automatically find their thing, but keep on doing those [maker] things. It might not be what they need until they are older,” Martin says. “I want to make sure my daughters have access to a variety of things. I’ll know if they don’t want to be engineers, it isn’t because they haven’t had the opportunity to try it out.”

-Janeen Lewis 

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