FutureMakers
About the Artist
FutureMakers offers playful engineering and hands-on STEAM learning projects in PK to 8 classrooms, helping educators, after-school program leaders, and family engagement specialists confidently lead STEAM-based classroom activities through classroom material kits, virtual and in-person teaching-artist visits, and professional learning programs.
FutureMakers’ screen-free “Sparks” (Art Machines, Blendies, Crankie Contraptions) invite young makers to explore mechanism, motion, narrative, and the visual arts through tools and materials they can take home and keep building.
Small hands with big ideas grow socially, emotionally, and creatively when they design and build things to keep. Founded in Baltimore in 2011, FutureMakers has been an Arts for Learning Maryland teaching-artist partner since 2013. Our work together has benefited thousands of learners, educators, and caregivers across greater Maryland.
Artist Statement:
FutureMakers helps educators and program leaders confidently activate critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration, and practical hands-on skills through STEAM projects that move and come to life. Your students will create wiggling motorized machines that draw, kinetic sculptures that grow and move, and more. They’re built around design challenges that are easy for educators to lead, and open-ended enough for learners to apply their own unique take on a successful solution. FutureMakers projects are most successful in innovative PreK-8 classrooms, libraries, and family engagement programs that believe small hands with big ideas grow socially, emotionally, and creatively when they playfully engineer curious inventions.
Credentials
- MSAC Teaching Artist Roster
- Teaching Artist Institute Graduate
Testimonials
"You could see the joy of learning in the eyes of children as they explored and investigated that tools to create, problem solve and invent unique robots. The quest for inquiry was engaging and the creativity ignited a unique skill-set for all students. Our students gained a deeper sense of agency throughout this experience. Now, instead of "maybe I can" they say, "I CAN do that!" "
Germantown Elementary
“Great hands-on STEAM project. It got everyone involved!”
Emma K. Doub Elementary
“I was looking for ways to make learning tangible in my classroom.
I wanted a transdisciplinary project that would engage my
students and plug into my existing curriculum without replacing
it. FutureMakers met all of these expectations and more.”
Andria, Teacher, Harford County Public Schools
