National Week of Making & Maker Faire 2015
National Week of Making Kickoff Event
 
The White House celebrated National Week of Making, June 12 -18, 2015. Hundreds of events and partnerships were unveiled around the country in libraries, museums, schools, universities and community spaces to showcase what our citizens enjoy making. To kick off the week, the White House hosted an event which included announcements and progress updates on President Obama’s call to action to create a #NationofMakers during a breakfast held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. 
Agenda
Teri Rofkar (Alaskan Native Artist and Basket Weaver) and Emily Pilloton (Founder of Project H Designs), two of the three panelist for Making in the Arts were invited to the White House Kickoff Event. (Kertzer, A. (Photographer). 2015. National Maker Faire Kickoff, Washington, DC. (Photograph). June 12, 2015.)
Wendy Clark (NEA, Director of Visual Arts) and Glenn Adamson (Director Of Museum of Arts And Design), the third panalist for Making in the Arts, were also invited to the White House Kickoff Event. (Kertzer, A. (Photographer). 2015. National Maker Faire Kickoff, Washington, DC. (Photograph). June 12, 2015.)
2015. Video of Kickoff Event, Washington, DC. (Video). June 12, 2015. Retrieved from: The White House
National Maker Faire
Attendees at this free family-friendly event had the opportunity to interact with technologies such as electronic instruments, 3D printers, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) projects, textiles, crafting activities, homemade robots, and other exhibits. The event showcased inventors from the local Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, as well as makers representing communities across America.
 
We the Geeks: Made with Pride
Streamed Live. (June 24, 2015). (Video). Retrieved from: The White House
Santoso, S. (Photographer and Artist). 2015. Maker Faire, Washington, DC. (Photograph). June 12, 2015.
The Faire hosted the American Innovation Speaker Series, with four panel presentations on Making across the United States: Exploring the Breadth of Making, Making in Communities and Education, Making in the Arts, and 3D Printing and Healthcare. 
I organized and moderated the Making in the Arts panel, a part of the American Innovation Speaker Series, during the National Maker Faire in Washington, DC with Emily Pilloton, Teri Rofkar, and Glenn Adamson.  The event was held Friday, June 12, 2015 and was a collaboration between NationOfMakers.org, the DC Government, the University of the District of Columbia, and Maker Media.  The National Maker Faire brought inventors, thinkers, and makers of all ages to our Nation’s capital.  The Makers Faire was an avenue for curious, inventive people to showcase what they love to make.
Emily Pilloton
Emily Pilloton, Founder of Project H, was one of the speakers. 2008. Project H, Berkeley, CA. (Photograph). 2008.
Emily Pilloton ~ Founder and Executive Director of Project H Design. She’s amazing and teaches young girls how to design and build.  Pilloton had a movie made about her work in NC (she’s in Oakland, CA now) called If You Build It. She is a great speaker and has a strong social media presence (around 300,000 Twitter followers, a TED talk, etc.). 
The Windsor Super Market is the only farmers market pavilion in the country designed and built entirely by high school students.  2011. Source: Studio H
Teri Rofkar
Teri Rofkar, Alaskan Native Artist and Basket Weaver. Source: Teri Rofkar.
Ms. Rofkar is an internationally renowned fiber artist from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. For over 25 years, Rofkar has been weaving exquisite baskets and textiles from cedar, spruce tree roots, ferns, and mountain goat wool which she collects in the woods and along the shoreline of her Northwest coast home. Rofkar has served as an Artist in Residence at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and at the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center in Sitka and has received a number of celebrated awards including the Buffet Award for Indigenous Leadership, a Creative Capital project award, the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award (2009), the United States Artist Fellowship and the Rasmuson Distinguished Artist Award. Rofkar has recently been exploring Web technology to verify the age and authenticity of weavings.  
2012. Mountain Goat DNA robe. (In progress). (Photograph). 2012. Retrieved from: Teri Rofkar
Glenn Adamson
Mr. Adamson is the director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Adamson advocated fervently for the inclusion of the word “maker” in the vocabulary of the museum’s staff and mission statement. He is among the most prominent and respected voices in the field of applied arts and design today. Prior to joining MAD, Adamson was the Head of Research at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. His publications include Thinking Through Craft (2007), The Craft Reader (2010), Invention of the Craft (2013), and Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 to 1990 (2011). He is also the co-founder and editor of the Journal of Modern Craft
Museum of Art and Design, New York photographed by Binet, H., 2008.  (Photograph). Source: MAD
Additional Resources
 
 
Selected Press Clips from the National Week of Making
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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