Why a makerspace?
Have you ever had a great idea for something to make but you didn’t have the tools?
You started a project but got stuck on how to finish?
You just wished you had someone to bounce your ideas off of?
Whether you grew up in a family who built tree houses and tailored wedding gowns, or your people feared anything more complicated than a pair of scissors, Tinkerhaus can offer you the level of support you need to become a maker. You can learn woodworking, fiber arts, jewelry making, decoupage, digital design and fabrication.
We are building a community for you.
We have tools such as drills, sanders and power saws, sewing machines and glue guns, pliers, and 3D printers.
We have people who can help you make a wooden tray, a pair of earrings, a Halloween costume.
We have surfaces that can handle paint and glue, and where you can set your piece to dry.
We have room for you to mull your ideas, share them with others or be inspired by what everyone else is making.
We have opportunities for beginners and for master artisans.
About Tinkerhaus
Our Mission
Tinkerhaus is a community makerspace that embraces family and community partnerships, facilitates creative, innovative opportunities for development where all levels of makers can work, learn, and play, and encourages self-directed, purposeful learning.
Our Vision
Tinkerhaus seeks to provide a safe environment where makers of all ages can engage in self-directed or scheduled activities that promotes creativity, problem solving, skill-building and critical thinking. Tinkerhaus seeks to support community needs through the development of authentic activities that promotes inclusive community values and the spirit of collaboration.
Our Guiding Principles
We believe that all people are endowed with unique abilities to make things and that those abilities should be fostered with learning opportunities.
We believe that the future of our community and our country are dependent upon our citizens becoming more reliant on their own ingenuity, innovation and industry.
We are committed to beginning on a path to combining our brains, our hands and our hearts in service to a more sustainable future.
Founder & Executive Director
Mary McDonald enjoys woodworking. She also plays tennis. So she can sometimes be an unusual sight lined up with the contractors at the big box stores, picking up supplies in her tennis whites—and that’s just fine with her. In fact, she hopes more people add woodworking to their list of hobbies, and she has removed a significant barrier to that by creating Tinkerhaus. Stocked with every cool power tool one could dream of, along with sewing machines and a 3-D printer, the community makerspace offers plenty of inspiration for creating.
Tinkerhaus Board Members
Anne Bourbeau, Salisbury
Ramsey Clyatt, Newburyport
Ellen Ellsworth, Byfield
Catherine Korn, Newburyport
Eric Olson, West Newbury
Sara Ramos, Amesbury