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Maker ecosystems grow out of a need for people to collaborate, communicate, create, and learn together. The first seeds are often planted by a small group of passionate makers and educators working to impact learning, economic development, culture, and the overall quality of life in a community by building a network of creatives with diverse specialties. The Scott Family Amazeum is working to nurture a maker ecosystem in the fertile conditions of Northwest Arkansas through a Maker in Residence Program and fact-finding trips to established maker ecosystems in other cities supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.  

Creative Collaboration, Cranky Contraptions, and the Rise of Mega-automata Most people who know about automata think about them as small, human-powered contraptions in a box in which gears, cams, levers, and pulleys automate a clever little vignette. At least that was their experience with the Amazeum's exhibition of Curious Contraptions created by Cabaret Mechanical Theater in London, England. However, the latest Amazeum Maker in Residence, Ryan Jenkins, thinks automata can be so much more. And bigger, way, way bigger.

In the three years since we opened, we’ve had an incredible response from our community. In fact, 805,531 incredible responses from guests who visited the museum to play and learn with us. Saturday, July 15, hundreds of community members came out to help us celebrate our 3rd birthday with some gooey, sticky, hands-on family fun.

Amazeum Program Educators Support Future Teachers

What binds a creative community together?Masking tape . . . lots and lots of masking tape. At least that worked during the last week of June. Danny Scheible, creator of Tapigami, spent the week as a Maker in Residence at the Scott Family Amazeum as part of the Maker in Residence Program funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Scheible resided in the 3M Tinkering Hub and introduced hundreds of guests to Tapigami, which he calls the “art of applying imagination to tape” during daily workshops.

Building a Creative Community by Making a MousetrapThe Amazeum hosted Mark Perez, Rose Hardin and their troupe of builder/performers - "fungineers"- as part the Maker in Residence Program funded by the Walton Family Foundation. This program is designed to bring national and regional makers together to support creating experiences at the intersection of science, technology, engineering and art. "The idea behind this is to be able to bring in incredibly creative people to infuse great ideas into the Amazeum and our community," Amazeum Executive Director Sam Dean says.

The Scott Family Amazeum hosted makers from across Arkansas for the 2nd Arkansas Maker Summit on Monday, October 16th. Representatives from over 30 K – 12 and post-secondary schools, the local artist and entrepreneurial community spent the day collaborating and learning about how to continue the growth of the maker ecosystem in Arkansas.

Adults went back to school Friday, August 18, when they enrolled in Amazeum on the Rocks: High School Flashback.

We know you’re thinking: What the heck is a charrette?

Hey, 9-11 year olds!  Have you been wondering about Animaker Camp?  Let me give you the inside scoop. This week you get to make your OWN movies from start to finish. You will write the story and choose what characters play the parts. Then you actually get to CREATE the actors, costumes, props, and sets from scratch. You don’t have a movie making background, you say? No worries! Throughout the week we will learn different ways to plan, design, and film your vision. I know many of you love looking at and posting videos on Snapchat and Instagram. The skills we learn in camp can be used in any type of movie, even a Snapchat story!  I’m excited to teach and learn with you. Hurry up, July 17th!