These are some photos taken at a picture frame workshop at the UT Foundry.
The Foundry hosted a Picture Frame making workshop on September 30, 2022. This was my first workshop as a maker intern at the Foundry. I had actually helped Julio prepare for this workshop by testing out some tools like the Dremel and a handsaw with him. The tools seemed to work properly when we first tested them out, but we decided not to use the Dremel as it might pose a few safety concerns.
Our plan for this workshop was to have people cut wooden pieces and assemble them into a picture frame. First, we had a few long planks of wood that we had cut down into smaller pieces. Then, we cut the smaller pieces at a 45 degree angle so that they could each fit together perfectly when we put them together into a frame. We used pencil markings and straight edge tools to cut the wood. After we cut all of our wooden pieces, we realized that they were not cut perfectly so, we used an L frame so that the pieces could be screwed on to it to match that of a right angle. Afterwards, we used a heat tool to carve our own designs into the wooden frame.
Overall, the cool thing about doing this workshop was that it was hosted in the Foundry, which is available for all UT students. Accessibility seems to be an issue when it comes to making, especially in underprivileged schools. Providing a space for students to express themselves is a key aspect of having them connect to learning the content area. Having low-maintenance making activities like this and providing a space for students to work on something like this lets them see how they can apply what they learned in class to something tangible. Moving forward, I definitely want to provide a space like this for my students, and I want to give them the opportunity to engage with hands on activities and create things.
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