It may be closed to the public, but The Makery has been busy in several areas since the stay-at-home orders came down.
The Makery, 209 W. Calder Way, is home to an arts and crafts studio and offers classes in jewelry-making, fabric arts, knitting and crocheting, painting and more. The classes cover the spectrum and include educational opportunities in art for preschoolers, teens and adults.
“We wanted to help our community. Around the middle to end of March, when masks were first being sought, we thought that we could help,” said Makery owner Amy Frank. “We had the materials and many were having difficulty finding them. We called together the sewers within The Makery itself at first, but the numbers quickly grew. We have nearly 500 mask-makers throughout the community. We made kits and supplied them to interested sewers until our supplies ran out.
‘We are still the collection point for whatever masks come in. There is a box for people to drop them in. We check them, repackage and distribute the masks to healthcare and health-care-related sites that are on our list. We have now given out over 3,000 masks to the community, 100 percent free.”
Frank’s staff of crafters, teachers and marketing people are always coming up with new ideas for things to design, make and create. In normal times, there are groups who meet and share their love of writing and encouraging each other. There are open times for preschoolers, complete with projects in clay or paint. Open Saturdays are a chance for self-guided studio time for all ages and access to all art supplies and tools.
The Makery is also a unique venue for parties, showers and other celebrations during ordinary times.
Especially important in these difficult days when stores are closed is the way The Makery has joined the virtual hands of its community and offered ways to entertain and share projects with families.
Craft kits are available through the store. The dollhouse kits that have been popular and used during the dollhouse camps in the summer have been created in a smaller version to use at home. The kits include the mini-house, wallpaper and furniture/accessories to decorate the house. Those interested can choose peg people or a bear friend with the kit. The cost is $25 delivered to your doorstep within the greater State College/Bellefonte area. Use Venmo at @themakerypa or message The Makery via its Facebook page to order.
The Makery still has some Pom-Pom Power Packs and Wonder Weaving kits available. The crafters and teachers at The Makery are designing kits with instructions to provide what participants would receive in a class to the community.
“It looks like since this is to be happening for a while, we have plans to make kits that will contain videos or instructions to join a Zoom lesson or method,” Frank said.
Those interested should follow The Makery on Facebook to see what they come up with next.
Another way that The Makery has reached out to help the community is by converting the Little Free Library in front of its building into a free food pantry. The sign on the little house suggests that you take what you need and leave what you don’t. When food insecurity raised its head in State College, The Makery group raised their hands and asked, “How can we help?”
