ABSTRACT
Many youth makerspaces seemed to feature cookie-cutter, objective-focused projects with a fixed endpoint: young people could 3D print a keychain that they customized from a restricted menu of options, or affix a marker to a vibrating motor to create a “drawing robot.” The young participants bring their own lived experiences as youth in Chicago, including an innate curiosity about the world, an interest in technology, and a desire to express themselves through art. The atmosphere is deliberately less structured to encourage interest-driven making. In Chicago there are many culturally rich communities that routinely face inadequate funding and resources for schools and libraries. Parents in these communities hunger for learning opportunities for their children on a par with those routinely offered in more affluent neighborhoods.
