The community makerspace in the science wing of the Library has recently been reorganized and remodeled, including additional tools and the hiring of two highly qualified staff.
It felt too informal to interview artist Tony Ellis (full disclosure: my husband) at home in my pajamas, so we moved our early morning interview to Café Paradiso. After ordering a tea for him (a Brit) and a cappuccino for me (addicted), we start the interview.
The broad 15th century Italian concept of a Renaissance Man is one who “can do all things if he will” and who is “limitless when it comes to capacity for development and obliged to further these talents and gifts as fully as possible.” Maggie Argiro is definitely a 21st century Renaissance woman.
ICON is a fitting name for Iowa Contemporary Arts and an apt description of the gallery’s well-loved founder/director/curator, Bill Teeple. I recently visited him there.
Graphic and fashion designer Jami Johnson works as part of “a tight knit team” for Blue Fish Clothing in Fairfield, Iowa. “I never thought I’d be moved back to a small town in Midwest and working at a clothing line doing fashion design,” she tells me.
In keeping with the nationwide trend of community-based makerspaces, which make a variety of tools and technologies available to all comers, MIU now has its own makerspace available to the entire Fairfield community.
In the coming year, the MIU Sustainable Living department will be launching a new class that will introduce students to the “Maker” movement and the growing culture of DIY (do it yourself) technology. Some might ask, “how do electronics, robotics and 3D printing fit into the concept of sustainability?”<!–more–>
When thinking about “sustainable living,” many of us visualize organic farming, natural building and solar energy. However, unlike the “back to the land” movement of the 1970s, the new generation of “tiny house” dwellers and organic farmers depend heavily on...
