By Max Bryan, mbryan@detroitnews.com
For Cindy Semrau, Farmington Hills’ makerspace isn’t just a place to enjoy her hobbies.
Since its opening in 2022, Semrau has learned skills to fix things around her home at the makerspace, skills that have helped with everything from redoing a bathroom to fixing concrete. She has also connected with other regulars who come to the space in a former high school on West 12 Mile.
“You should have your home, your work and some other place. I don’t have work, I don’t have religious affiliation, but I want places that I can be that are not just at home,” said Semrau, a West Bloomfield Township retiree who had several sets of chopsticks she made at the makerspace on a cold day in December.
Semrau isn’t the only one outside Farmington and Farmington Hills who uses The Hawk Makerspace, a unique city-owned space where both serious artisans and hobbyists can work with their hands, hone their skills and use professional-grade machines for woodworking, 3D printing, quilting and more.
Farmington Hills’ 5,000-square-foot makerspace, likely the largest in southeast Michigan and possibly the state, sees some patrons travel from 100 miles away to use it, according to Jessica Guzmán, cultural arts coordinator for visual arts and the makerspace in Farmington Hills’ special services department.
Semrau has done woodworking at the makerspace — a significant portion of the 5,000-square-foot space is a woodshop. The other side of the makerspace is filled with machines for making items such as quilts and 3D prints.
“Makerspaces” and artisan studios are increasingly cropping up in cities across Metro Detroit. The Sterling Heights Public Library has one with machines for residents to do 3D printing, embroidering, or use a sublimation printer. There’s also the Brightmoor Makerspace at the University of Michigan Detroit, which offers space for users to work on woodworking, bike building and gardening.
Anneliese White, public relations and program coordinator for the Sterling Heights Library on Dodge Park Road, said makerspaces are now common in libraries.
“We wanted to offer stuff to our community members that wasn’t necessarily just books that was useful to them,” said White.
Money to make
From 2006 to 2016, makerspaces grew 14-fold to nearly 1,400 worldwide, according to Popular Science. Local officials say they’re spaces where everyone from artisans to hobbyists can hone their skills, encourage entrepreneurship and allow people to socially connect.
While there’s been a proliferation of makerspaces in Metro Detroit, the funding for them is varied.
Guzmán said her city’s makerspace is the only municipally owned and operated space in Michigan to her knowledge. She attributed this to the city’s Cultural Arts Division.
“Our residents are the ones that said, ‘The arts are inherent and essential to our lives and a thriving community,’” said Guzmán.
For startup costs, the Bosch Community Fund gave Farmington Hills $500,000 to build its makerspace. When it comes to how much the city spends per year, Guzmán gave a ballpark estimate of $150,000. Makerspace pass costs depend on whether a patron resides in Farmington or Farmington Hills, their age and whether the purchased pass is daily, monthly or annual.
Troy was also considering creating a makerspace in a new library as a part of a bond issue this fall, but it failed. Had voters in Troy approved a 1.13-mill property tax, the city would have gotten $137 million for capital improvements, including $75 million for a new library.
“We get a lot of requests for a makerspace, which is a pretty typical thing now in libraries,” said Troy Library Director Emily Dumas in September when discussing the possibilities that would come with a new library.
Troy Communication Director Courtney Flynn declined to comment on the city’s desire for a new library, citing ongoing budget discussions.
In Sterling Heights, its makerspace inside its library was paid for and operated with money from the foundation, Friends of the Sterling Heights Public Library. A city patron’s first five visits are free, and then they’re required to either bring their own supplies or reimburse the library for the supplies they use.
“The makerspace is open to all suburban library cardholders in the community in Macomb County, but the residents of Sterling Heights get the first five free visits,” Public Services Librarian Krista Ghazar explained.
A point of connection
Regardless of how they came to be, the goal of makerspaces is to provide users with a host of tools and resources to create.
In Sterling Heights, the makerspace has 3D printers, an embroidery machine, heat presses, a frosting printer and a button maker.
The space also has a laser engraver, which was part of an expansion, said White.
“We’ve seen an increase in our usage, interest in our usage, which is why we’ve expanded the equipment that we have,” said White.
Farmington Hills’ space has a laser cutter, as well as 3D printers and sewing machines. It also has a garment printer and a long-arm quilter.
Semrau said the skills she’s learned at the makerspace transferred to home projects.
“We went and remodeled our bathroom, and the floor, and the walls, and redid the concrete. So I decided we were going to get it done. So it gave me the confidence to attack a rather large project at home,” Semrau said. “Of course (my husband) helped me, but I’m the driver.”
“When it comes to adults, a lot of them, I feel, are trying to reconnect with something they maybe feel they felt they had to give up when they became an adult, and are needing to find that again,” said Guzmán.
Guzmán said there’s a direct correlation between the arts and skills like critical thinking, functioning at work and proficiency in school. She also said the arts help communities understand themselves.
And like Semrau, Guzmán also said places like makerspaces connect people.
“I would love to see more people come into this space as a way of building their community and helping them find like-minded individuals that are interested in reconnecting with that DIY or learning new skills,” she said.
