Meet A Maker: Mena Ramm

As the 2023 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is approaching , we took some time to sit down and talk with SCI’s Mena Ramm who is  an incredible maker. She shared with us about the things she loves to make and what inspires her creativity.

Us: What do you do at the Science Center?

Mena: I am the Camps Manager here at the Science Center of Iowa. I love working with young people and there is so much making that happens at camp! It is important to remember that whatever you try to make, it is a journey that takes a lifetime to master. Often we think of kids as being creative, and they definitely are, but it can be incredibly challenging for young people to be asked to be creative on the spot and they often have trouble finishing what they start. When we as makers feel a gap between our taste and our skills we can often become very frustrated, and this can lead to giving up. Being a maker is like working out a muscle, we have to practice all the time, which is why the process is so important. Practice finishing what you start, practice learning new skills, and practice your maker mindset and in time progress always follows.

Us: Wow. It sounds sounds like practice is a really important part of making. How would you define/describe “making”?

Mena: I define making as being engaged with a process that allows me to create something new. For me, making is inextricable from the process that goes into it. The process for me is the most rewarding part. When I am engaged in making something, my mind is quiet and the world drifts away. The time when I am engaged with my making process is often the best time off my day. Making does have it’s challenges, but training my mind and hands to confront these challenges is so rewarding!

Us: I think it is so good to think of making as a process and not just about the final product. What are some of your favorite maker activities?

Mena: I have always been an artist who loved drawing, painting, printmaking, and digital art. I still create drawings in my free time. In the past few years I also been obsessed with fiber arts. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was young and I have now learned to knit. Knitting has taken over my imagination! I love that meditative process of it and I love having a useful end product! I have knitted many sweaters and it feels like there is always something new learn. I have also started quilting and sewing this year. I do not find it as meditative as other maker activities but that challenge has been really rewarding. When I am engaged in these hobbies I feel very connected to a long line of makers in my family and the world who have passed down so much knowledge.

Making is important because it teaches us! We learn to finish what we start and to confront challenges. We learn how to close the gap between our taste and our skills, and we learn to pass on what we have learned to others!

Us: It so important to recognize how making things and working through the process helps us to grow. Thank you for sharing with us about your passions and your process.

Come see Mena and her incredible knitting skills at the Des Moines Mini Maker Faire on Monday, September 4 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door. Tickets purchased online receive a $2 discount. https://112291.blackbaudhosting.com/112291/page.aspx?pid=213&tab=2&txobjid=32818b7a-b396-4061-b330-12a4682d0f39

Meet Our Maker: Celeste Moreno

We took some time to sit down with Celeste Moreno, a resident of Boulder, Colorado, to learn about how she got started as a Maker and the roll the Science Center of Iowa played in her journey. Here are her responses:

How would you define/describe “making”?

To me, “making” is a celebration of the skills and practices that shape our lives; mending a ripped pair of pants, building a house, baking cookies, customizing a skateboard. People are creative and inventive and “making” is one way that we express this. It’s a way of solving problems, caretaking, innovating, and creating beauty.  

What are you studying at the University of Colorado in Boulder?

I’m studying the intersection of education, design, and technology at the ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder as a Ph.D. student. My studies and research are focused on how to design creative learning experiences for learners of all ages, particularly in places like museums and libraries. 

What got you interested in this field?

I got interested in designing learning experiences during my undergraduate program at Iowa State University. I was enrolled in a program called Biological and Pre-Medical Illustration and in this program we learned a lot about how to effectively and accurately communicate science using creative methods like animation and illustration. One of my favorite projects that I made was a life-size replica of a wooly mammoth’s foot that was designed to be an educational tool. During this project I realized that I wanted to know more about how people learn, and how creative approaches to education like “making” can support learning. This program, along with my volunteer experience at the Science Center, opened my eyes to how much learning takes place outside of the classroom in spaces like museums, libraries, online, at home, etc. I became interested in understanding what’s special or different about the learning that happens there and I wanted to understand how best to design for learning in these spaces. 

What are some of your favorite maker activities?

One of my favorite maker activities is wind-up toy dissections and remixes. It’s fun and fascinating to take apart wind-up toys and reveal the mechanisms that make the toys work. You’ll find gears, springs, screws, and more hidden inside the plastic shell. When I do this activity, I usually ask people to predict what they think is inside the toy first, then we use small screwdrivers and tools to take apart the toy. After we compare what we thought was inside the toy to what’s really inside of it we make “Frankenstein” wind-up toys. Learners repurpose the mechanisms they dissected and borrow bits and pieces from other toys to create wind-up toys that look funny or move in interesting ways. I love how this activity encourages learners to develop a curiosity about the mechanisms inside of familiar objects, gives them a little bit of experience with small tools, and creates an opportunity to not only take something apart– but to make something new. This activity is a great creativity kick-starter and it’s always a lot of fun. 

Why do you think “making” is important?

“Making” is important for many reasons but here are a couple big ones: I think “making”, at its best, builds on the expertise that all people and communities possess. It lifts up and celebrates existing knowledge and skills as valuable ways of learning about and making sense of the world. Making expands the vocabulary that we have to express our ideas and investigate our questions. It gives us a wider variety of materials and tools to explore and bring our ideas to life with. 

What is your connection to the Science Center of Iowa?

The Science Center of Iowa has always been a part of my life in big and small ways. My mom partially credits her visits to the old Science Center with her grandpa as part of what sparked her interest in science (which was eventually passed on to me). I have lots of memories of visiting both the old and new Science Center with my school classmates and family. During college, I started to volunteer at the Science Center and I loved it so much that I applied to be a “maker-in-residence” and began working at the Science Center in that position after I graduated. I moved on to another job, but eventually made my way back to the science center and worked with the education and exhibits teams for a bit before I moved to Colorado. Now, I’m continuing to collaborate with the Science Center from Colorado and I get to come back from time to time for special occasions like Maker Faire! 

Celeste will be facilitating workshops in the Innovation Lab during the Des Moines Mini Maker Faire on September 5 at the Science Center of Iowa. You can purchase advanced tickets on the SCI Website.

Meet a Maker: Amenda Tate Corso

Meet Amenda Tate Corso, an accomplished artist and metal worker. She took some time to chat with us about her approach to making and what inspires her work.

SCI: Can you tell us about what you do?
Amenda: I have been working on a project called the “Manibus Project” for the last year-and-a-half. It utilizes a robotic painting device I created and translates the movement dance and motion into two-dimensional works of art.

SCI: Where does the name “Project Manibus” come from?

Amenda: In Latin, Manibus means “the hand.” I wanted a name that expressed the idea that this project wasn’t replacing the artist by any means. Instead, it acts as an extension of the artist’s hand, or as a new tool that to make or create.

SCI: So it’s a tool that acts on its own, but creates work by an artist?
Amenda: Sort of! It works by using a remote control that senses movement as the input. This allows it to conduct and create the art piece.

I like to think of myself as the overseer or the person that orchestrates the creation of the finished product.

SCI: Where did you get the idea to make a project like this?

Amenda: I had a transformational experience at the ballet, I probably only went to the ballet once before adulthood, and all of the sudden I felt like I was experiencing it in a way that was different from what I perceived it to be. I could see the lines and the shapes. I forgot I was looking at the bodies of the dancers as individual elements, instead I saw them as a whole.

After that, I had a friend that told me about an artist residency program. I really wanted to do something with Ballet Des Moines that was not only inspired by ballet, but directly related to the dancers and what they were doing. In the end, I wanted something that created an impression that was more lasting than just the moment of dance. When you watch a dance recital, you get this emotional high, and then the dance ends, and the moment expires. I wanted it to make something that told the story directly of what was happening in the moment that had a lasting impression. Something that can be analyzed in a different way.

SCI: There’s a huge difference between just taking a video of a ballet recital and displaying it on paper. They give off different types of energy.

Amenda: You can feel the interaction of the energy that was present in that moment. It’s not meant to be an exact reproduction of the movement, but more of a translation of the energy or emotion or the inspiration of it.

SCI: How did you start making?

Amenda: I don’t know if there was a specific time that I can say, “That’s where I got into making,” but I remember something happening as a kid. My parents used to let me use tools, which I thought was fantastic, because some kids don’t get to experience tools until they’re older or there’s a specific need.

I used to take things apart all the time. My dad had a retractable keychain that was broken, and I remember taking it apart to find out what was broken, what happened to it and what made it work, and I fixed it!

There were lots of things like that. For me, it isn’t just about needing to know how things work and why, but more so as an element of expression. I didn’t want to just make something to function. I wanted to make something that does something, tells a story or communicates to us in a way that the everyday world doesn’t.

SCI: What’s your favorite part of the making process?
Amenda: For me, it would have to be seeing the end result. There’s something very satisfying about the process for sure, but I think it’s that point of discovery. Making these works of art are kind of like discoveries, because there isn’t a scripted form. I don’t have a set idea of what it’s going to look like when it’s finished.

SCI: If someone is interested in learning more about making, what would you recommend?

Amenda: Be prepared to fail a lot. Do not be discouraged by making mistakes. I think that a lot of people don’t want to make mistakes, and we all have this fear of making mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough to make new things. It’s all part of the process. When you embrace that, you’re on your way to surprising yourself!

See Amenda’s project in action at the Des Moines Mini Maker Faire on Monday, September 3! To learn more, visit http://desmoines.makerfaire.com/, and be sure to check our social media channels for exciting news and updates!