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Board of Directors

Mankato Makerspace has existed since 2017
thanks to many fantastic volunteers 
such as the folks listed here!

Meet your Makers

Maker
Shop
Hours
Contact
Dustin Swiers
Metals, Glass, Ceramics Executive Director & Facilities Manager Shop Lead M,G,C
Tues, 2-8, Thurs 2-8, By appt
507-273-0745 dustin.swiers@gmail.com
Tyler Vaughan
Wood working Treasurer Shop Lead: Woodshop
Tue 5-8 By appt
507-508-9666 tjv14@hotmail.com
Cindy Bourne
Jewelry Smithing President, Grant writer Coordinator Shop Lead: Jewelry
Tues 2-8, Friday 12-6, Sat 9-3 By appt
214-558-2489 cbourne214@gmail.com
Shayna Swiers
Wire N Wine Paint N Sip Education Director Marketing & Website Coordinator
By appt Thurs 5-8pm By appt
507-421-1540 sstietje@gmail.com
Pegeen Rozeske
Leather, Shoemaking
Tues 4-8 By appt
218-491-5036 wildhorse_ride@yahoo.com
Justin Bergo
Glowforge, Woodworking Shop Lead: Glowforge & 3D print
Fri 12-8 By appt
507-469-9617 caineatsabe@gmail.com
Kendrick Daum
Aerosol Art Glowforge Shop Lead: Finishing Room
Sun 12-8 By appt
507-380-8750 kdaumpaint@gmail.com
Christina Donley
Silk Screen Printing Co Shop Lead: Screen Printing
Tues 2-8 By appt
507-966-5267 christinaddonley@gmail.com
Jody Bohrer
Macrame, Sewing
By appt.
763-744-6402 teacherjodyb@gmail.com
Jeff Stocco
Wood Lathe
By appt
507-720-9072 jeffstocco@gmail.com
Jeremy Kuznia
3D Printing
By appt
507-340-2345 xplanetbob@gmail.com
Caleb Stoner
Lapidary, Blacksmithing
Sat 3-8 By appt
507-508-7363 calebstoner@yahoo.com
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We operate
under the guidance of
the Board of Directors of the
Minnesota Makers & Artists Guild.


Learn more at: www.theguildmn.org 

We wouldn't be able to do what we do without our fabulous donors!

Individual Donors

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Material Donors

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Corporate Donors

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In-Kind Donors

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Equipment Donors

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Grant Funding

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Volunteers and supporters
we lost too soon.

Don Darling

Don joined our founding board because he wanted to bring his decades of machining knowledge to aspiring makers.

​

His favorite tool in the shop was hands down, the wood lathe.  You could count on his beard forever having wood chips floating in it.

​

Don was a cherished mentor who continues to be greatly missed.

Kim Spears

Kim was invited to join our founding board as an industry professional who was already an active community volunteer as a Lego Robotics coach and city councilperson. 

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He shared his knowledge of forging from his employment at Dotson Iron Castings and applied his other volunteering skills as the space went from concept to reality.

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Kim elevated the potential social benefits of a maker driven environment and advanced the creation and development of today's makerspace.

In Memoriam

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Origin Story

How Mankato got its Makerspace

The maker movement has been growing across the nation and in our community. Artisans, innovators and creative people of all stripes drive the largest portion of this area's economy. A groundswell of community members recognized this fact and established The Mankato Makerspace, and brought the notion of "the maker" to life in the Mankato area.
 
The project has grown in phases:

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Concept 2015-2016

Initial research, planning and gathering of interested people.

 

Thanks to the work of Rick Esser, Katie Boone, Sara Nett, Jesse Bateman, Lindsey Block & Kendrick Daum through the catalyst of EnvisionLab.

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Founding 2017

We established our legal entity, focused on business planning, extended research, & market testing, as well as identified and began to cultivate the Mankato maker community in 2017. In this stage, we set up accounting, acquired our space, and got building!

 

Initial funding was provided by Graham Nelson. We also received grant awards from the Dream, Learn and Go Big Community Growth Initiative.

 

We opened our doors February 22, 2018 thanks to the work of Rick Esser, Kendrick Daum, Joe Herke, Cindy Bourne, Julie Dempster, Kim Spears, Don Darling, Deb Groebner and Emily Griebel as the original board of Minnesota Makers & Artists Guild.

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Operation 2018 and on

In 2018, we moved into actual operation.
 

Which brings us to our directorial phase!

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Each year has brought with it the identification of an ever growing community of folks stepping forward; motivated by, participating in and dedicated to the maker movement happening in Mankato.

Founding Donors

Ron Goodrich

Ron believes in:

As a maker on a large scale, he understands the importance access to tools and workspace has on developing skills and enhancing creative problem solving. (I totally made that up..... I need some real info here ;)

​

MMAG continues to benefit from Ron's support. Thank you Ron for helping us start our journey and being our most steadfast supporter!

Graham Nelson

Graham believed in reintroducing people to their past through hands-on, skills based learning. He envisioned having access to the variety of shops and collaborative peers as having the potential to engage people’s latent creativity, further empowering them to become resourceful and self-sustainable.

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MMAG used the funds from Graham's donation to file our 501(c)(3) paperwork. Thank you Graham for helping us start our journey!

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