(12/2023) The Mount offers many new ways to find and explore within the visual arts. Professor Nick Hutchings, author of the poem above, likes to think of new opportunities as a call, an echo to a prayer. This poem, left untitled, serves as the prayer to the space that was given to him to open the Makers House.

Professor Nick Hutchings is an Associate Professor, and Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing arts. His focuses of study include sculpture, installation, ceramics, and drawing. He started at the Mount in 2013, teaching a variety of courses, including Modernity in Art, and later became the advisor for the Makers House.

What is The Makers House?

The Makers House is a collaborative community with a focus on the craft of making. Some of the workshops include ceramics, sewing, and knitting, as well as 3D printing, woodworking, and gardening. The workshops are run by student leaders of the Makers House, who are responsible for maintaining and managing the space and its community feel. A practicum course is offered for students interested in getting involved with the space. There are four main studios in the Makers House: the fab lab (a digital fabrication lab), crafts, ceramics, and the shop, which is also the main classroom.

When did The Makers House start?

The Makers House started last fall of 2022, at the beginning of last school year. The ceramics and shop areas moved into the space where they are located today, which used to be the plumber shop on campus for several years. The Brewing Club also meets at same space, which is cool in the eyes of Hutchings, who believes all things making, creating, and building are in this quarter of campus. Hutchings’ ideology for the Makers House is that, "this house is His, this house is ours, this house is shared." He uses a "messy family" analogy to capture the essence of the Makers Studio, which is that everyone moves in, makes, and creates.

Nick Hutchings, who prefers to be called by his first name by students, staff, and faculty, got the idea to create the Makers Studio from the lockdown. He saw, firsthand, how many of the students were stuck in their dorm rooms, stuck in a virtual world with the devices in front of their eyes. Where was there room for creativity? For making? Hutchings wanted to make a space for students to get out of their rooms, to create a community, and to make. Making was the central focus for Hutchings, and several students also felt this burning passion he has for the arts. If you ever visit the space, take note of the writings and drawings on the walls, or the pieces being worked on as artists share this space collaboratively. The act of making, as Hutchings says, is a powerful thing.

What makes it a community?

The Makers House is provided to the Mount community by the Mount students, making it its own small community. Everyone at the Mount are welcomed to join. This is due to the desire to expand more into the Mount community and actively engage with the students. The Makers House has collaborated with several clubs on campus, such as The Black Student Union, Student Organization of Latinos, Asian Culture Club, and African Student Association, to name a few. However, it has previously worked with the Seton Shrine and Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg. As of right now, the main focus of the studio is to "put the house together."

There are many ways to get involved and build the team. Of course, attending workshops and being an active member in the practicum are just a few ways to engage with the Makers House. Last year, the house produced nearly sixty-five workshops. This year, they went less on the number and focused more on the events themselves, with about thirty to forty workshops hosted over the course of the semester. You could attend a handful a semester, or you could jump right in with attending all of the workshops. There are also open studio hours where you can come in and work on a project within a studio full of people who share similar interests; some of these individual projects could include tufting—the making of a rug—fine woodworking, throwing on the potter’s wheel, and more.

As well as this, the Makers House has also worked closely with the Kindness Community with flower arrangements and notes of kindness. If you do wish to join the student practicum, with artists known by themselves as "the homies," we highly recommend it, as it is a fun avenue to take. Some of the leaders to get into contact with are Graduate Assistants Trevor Kern and Dominique Jeffery, as well as Seniors Emma Edwards and Robert Prender. These four students are regarded as the "arms" of the space, and would be best to ask more questions if interested.

Some other on campus events that the Makers House participated in are several AMP events, as well as the creation of their own garden. There are several hopeful prospects on the horizon for the Makers House, including participating in a student gallery, which are all directed by Professor Elizabeth Holtry, and a maker music lab, which is set to take place in the fall of next year. The hopes are for the construction to start in the spring, building a recording studio in Knott Auditorium for musicians all around.

For right now, you can attend several student-favorite events. The S’mores and Mores event is a time where students can sit around a firepit, have s’mores, paint, and collaborate. Flower arrangement is also another popular event, with usually a large turnout. Please check your campus email for monthly events sent by the Makers House.

Why do we make?

A tough question to answer completely, but full of exciting angles to look at the art of making. There is a certain fundamental aspect with making that tethers us to the Divine. Hutchings quotes, "What’s being made in me in the act of making is important." There is a close connection to God’s gift to us, which is human creation. We are able to make and create from the roots deep within our souls. However, there is a paradox to this beauty, and it is the realization that everything you make can also be destroyed. But, what is inside of you, planted within you from the seeds of the earth—that is what matters. Hutchings believes God has given the students this space, in hopes to see something grow and blossom, both in spiritual and physical senses.

Although the space is currently limited to the Mount community, do stay tuned for events hosted off campus. There is no telling exactly when the Makers House will open for everyone in the community, but it is on the horizon. We need to focus on the core and the building of the community, before opening the house to grow more connections.