MakerSpace

The MakerSpace is a student-centered arts, crafts, and fabrication studio that encourages and supports student creativity outside the classroom during the academic year. The MakerSpace exists to promote hands-on skill development and foster a sense of community among makers. The MakerSpace offers a wide variety of tools, materials, and workshops within a large dynamic space for students to collaborate, prototype, learn new making skills, and practice hobbies. 

The MakerSpace is free and open to all current Columbia College students. Join us in the Fall and Spring semesters Monday through Thursday 10am - 7pm, and Fridays 10am - 4pm.

• Equipment & Materials

  The Makerspace offers a wide variety of tools, materials, and workshops within a large dynamic space for students to collaborate, prototype, learn new making skills, and practice hobbies. Equipment available in the space includes, but is not limited to: Glowforge laser, 3D printers, industrial and tabletop sewing machines, vinyl cutter, heat press, laminator, coil binding machine, and comb binding machine. Materials typically available in the Makerspace include paper, markers, paint, tape, scissors, rulers, hand tools, and more. Specialty materials may be available during workshops or on a pop-up basis. Materials provided by the Makerspace are intended for personal or academic use only. You are welcome to use the space and equipment to work on projects intended for sale, but you must provide your own materials for these projects. 

  Some equipment requires training or supervision to use. Makerspace employees are available at all times during our open hours to assist you. You can find out more about our equipment use guidelines here. 

  If you want to check if we have a specific tool or supply on hand, you're welcome to contact the Makerspace front desk via email at makerspace@colum.edu or by phone at 312-369-7877.

• Button Making

  The Makerspace has 3 sizes of button making machines: 1", 1.5", 2". The Makerspace supplies up to 50 buttons per student per semester or 150 buttons per registered student organization per semester. Beyond this, you can purchase additional supplies for use with our machines from ShopColumbia. 

  Please note that there is not a printer available in the Student Center. We recommend printing out your button designs at the library. Templates and instructions for preparing button designs can be found here.

• Workshops
  The Makerspace typically hosts 1 or 2 workshops per month. Specific workshop themes and activities vary from semester to semester based on employee expertise and collaborations with other campus organizations. Some examples of past workshops include: grad cap decoration, resin crafts, soap-making, jewlery-making, and thrift flips. You can find more information on upcoming workshops on our Instagram and the Engage portal.
• Collaboration
  The Makerspace welcomes collaboration with other offices on campus as well as with student groups. If you are interested in hosting a workshop or event in the space, please contact Makerspace Coordinator Eli Owens at elowens@colum.edu. Please note that we typically only allow events during our standard hours and that the Makerspace remains open for general use during events.
• Lending
  Beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year, the Makerspace will allow short-term borrowing of some equipment. More info coming soon!