The Importance of Makers

Why am I interested in Open Bench?
Because I want to be around makers.

Who are these makers?
They’re the people who transform dented brass instruments into musical wind sculptures; they’re the people who figure out how to take photographs from kites. They’re the people who invent, instruct, and inspire. They’re also the people who fix things, who teach kids, and who build our communities.

They do exist in Portland (I have met several of them), but perhaps only in pockets; there is not yet a gathering place. One maker may be programming a robotic beetle in her garage while across town another is sewing LEDs into his hat. Each is unknown to the other, and certainly unknown to me. Which means that I can’t learn from them, be energized by them, or share my ideas with them. Nor can they with each other or with me.

I want Open Bench to become a reality so that I can meet these makers. A shared project space like Open Bench would give us access to tools and resources we couldn’t manage on our own. It would provide a place to store our projects. And perhaps most importantly it would give us a place to meet, to learn, and to share.

-Alex