The State of Maker Faire
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In 2023, the maker movement got its move back. More and larger Maker Faires came back, many makerspaces have stable if not growing membership, and maker education continues to find a place in K-12 schools, as well as in colleges and universities. For almost 20 years, the maker movement has led to the development of new tools that have become more widely accessible and better and easier to use. Makers have also helped develop all kinds of resources for learning how to use these tools.
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But the maker movement was never just about the toolset. It is about the creative mindset of the people who use those tools in new applications, art and music or design, and problem-solving. The maker movement is made up of the people who share this mindset. Out of it has grown a loose-knit global community that stimulates and supports open innovation. Makers get to choose which projects they do, and in making that choice, they pursue new ideas without asking for anyone’s permission. Makers might be considered the “indie” segment of the tech industry, where new ideas thrive independently of corporate goals and academic agendas. Makers share their work in hopes of getting feedback, collaborating, and discovering the potential of their project.
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Now, in 2023, with more Maker Faires coming back around the world, more makers are able to share their projects again in public. There were a total of 144 Maker Faires in 2023; 89 of them were community faires; 38 were school faires, and 17 were faires in retail centers. Rome continues to be the largest Maker Faire, but we saw the return of Maker Faire Shenzhen and Maker Faire Bay Area.
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The maker movement also represents an approach to practical hands-on learning in and out of the classroom. What drives a maker to start a project is the same thing that drives a student to understand that they can turn their ideas into reality. School makerspaces foster the practice of making and build confidence and a sense of agency. They promote self-directed learning. All of these are reasons why makerspaces get built, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to realize the potential of maker-centered learning.
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The best way to appreciate the maker movement is to see what makers are doing. While no one person can see all the projects at all Maker Faires, the Maker Faire Yearbook makes it possible to see many of the projects that were shared at Maker Faires this year. If you look at the projects, you will often find the unexpected, something refreshing and original, often clever and playful. Each project says a lot about what makers choose to build and what they can do, and each is a creative contribution to society. Quietly but surely, the maker movement is not just moving ahead, but thriving in ways that we might not ever have expected.
