Maker Day is an all-day celebration of artists, entrepreneurs, tinkers, crafters and more, as well as the 4th Floor Makerspace, a public space with over 12,000 square feet of technology, machinery and software available to everyone (no library card required). Free workshops and demonstrations will be offered throughout the day, run by the talented staff at the Library, as well as a number of organizations, including ArtsBuild, Hunter Museum of American Art, Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, Outdoor Chattanooga, Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, The Sattva Project, Scenic Stitches and The Unsent Letter Mailbox. There will even be activities just for kids with the Creative Discovery Museum on the 2nd Floor!
Workshops will feature projects that anyone can make using the Library’s Makerspace equipment, including laser cutting, 3D printing, zine making, screenprinting, sewing and other fiber arts, and other DIY crafts such as seed bombs, a nature mandala, postcards, custom books, cyanotypes and so much more. The Library will also be showing off its Beyond Books collections available to checkout from the 4th Floor, including the newest additions to the Adventure Library (a partnership with Outdoor Chattanooga), featuring sports and fitness kits from YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga!
“We are fortunate to have a large and multifaceted creative community in Chattanooga,” says 4th Floor Supervisor Crissy Varnell. “Maker Day is one of our favorite days of the year because so many of our community partners and artists join us to share knowledge and a love of DIY culture. This is such an exciting event for curious minds of any age!”
Hands-on crafts are not the only thing you will find at Maker Day this year. The Sattva Project will be in the Library’s 1st Floor Auditorium offering yoga classes and sound bathing sessions throughout the morning. Another station will offer attendees an opportunity to learn and participate in The Unsent Letter Mailbox, an installation series born in NYC that invites strangers to write an unsent letter in exchange for reading one written by someone else. There will also be performances from local musicians and a large Maker marketplace all day long for people to meet, learn more and purchase products from makers and artists from the Chattanooga area.
