Exciting and innovative CRAFT Maker Space opens at Limerick college

THE Minister for Education has praised the CRAFT Maker Space at Mary Immaculate College for exemplifying a “deep dedication to furthering integration of the arts and creativity in education”.

Norma Foley made her comments during a visit to MIC where she launched the facility at a special event. 

The first of its kind in the Mid-West region, the CRAFT Maker Space aims to inspire the public to connect with their inner designer, engineer, scientist, mathematician, inventor and artist through a wide range of energetic and thrilling STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) activities and workshops.

“The CRAFT Maker Space truly is a 21st century development, brimming with imagination and ingenuity venue. Equally as important, for the future generations, this state-of-the-art space will offer students from all corners of the world a place of curiosity, brimming with vision and creativity," said Ms Foley.

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“What you have created here is a safe space where journeys of discovery can progress without limitations, boundaries or borders. It is a place where the voyage of exploration is as valuable as the destination eventually arrived at. It is clear that a driving force behind this bold development is a deep dedication to furthering integration of the arts and creativity in education,” she added.

The CRAFT Maker Space, which is housed in the newly-renovated Newman Hall on the John Henry Newman campus, aims to enable children and the public to embrace innovation, enhance creativity and critical thinking skills through a variety of accessible and inclusive outreach activities for schools and families. 

President of MIC, Professor Eugene Wall, commented: “MIC has extensive experience and expertise in the area of STEM and Arts education and has been able to use this experience to bring about authentic pedagogical interventions for early years, primary and post-primary children. We have long collaborated with partners in the broader educational, community and private sectors to ensure that these interventions are appropriate for children as learners and consequently make it possible to sustain the interest taken by children in STEM disciplines over the long term. The CRAFT Maker Space will now provide us with a physical space where this can happen.”

The CRAFT Maker Space will primarily create opportunities for engagement in STEAM disciplines by children at primary and post-primary education levels and their families. In addition to this remit, it will act as a base to support MIC’s involvement in major annual STEAM festivals and events, including the Tipperary Festival of Science, Mid-West Vex Robotics Programme (in association with Dell Technologies), ESB Science Blast, Limerick City Coder-Dojo, MIC Lego Innovation Studio and myriad workshops, courses and projects across the region. 

Dr Maeve Liston, Director of Enterprise & Community Engagement at MIC, days the CRAFT Maker Space is a "truly inspiring and engaging" space.

"‘CRAFT’ stands for ‘Creative Arts / Future Technologies’, promoting a more transdisciplinary approach to teaching STEM through the arts and new technologies, not only concentrating on problem solving, critical thinking and analytical skills but also on key 21st skills i.e. creativity, innovation and design thinking.  The CRAFT Maker Space is for everyone, all our hands-on, activity-based workshops, which are free of charge, involve children, teachers and families ‘Imagining, Designing and Creating’."

The CRAFT workshops will involve collaborative engineering design projects placing an emphasis on the concept that we are all makers.