Made in Erie Training Series Begins Feb. 27 at Blasco Library

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Are you interested in working, learning, creating, and imagining together for the betterment of the Erie area? Lisa Austin of Civitas and Greg Dillon of Penn State Behrend have been working hard to address what they call a "design vaccuum" in Erie. Now because of that work, the Made in Erie training series is being offered for three Saturdays at the Blasco Library.

The Made in Erie series is meant to help people design better products that can be manufactured locally. The series begins Saturday, Feb. 27 at Blasco Library. The subsequent sessions are on March 19 and April 9. The morning session is free, open to anyone who is interested, and runs from 10 a.m. until noon. There are also afternoon workshops that are limited to 15 participants and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is required for the afternoon workshops. There is a one-time registration fee of $30 for the three afternoon workshop sessions. 

Devin Roberts, this year's main presenter, has an impressive background that will serve attendees well. He is an industrial designer who has worked with Fisher-Price, Pixar, and Nickelodeon. He holds a BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art, and an MBA from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

For the Feb. 27 session, participants will also hear from Henry Adams, a professor of art history at Case Western Reserve University, who will discuss approaches to industrial design. Adams did his undergraduate work at Harvard University and earned his MA and PhD in art history at Yale University. Adams curated a Cleveland Museum of Art exhibit on the work of Viktor Schreckengost, the founder of the Industrial Design program at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Adams then produced a film and book about Schreckengost.

This is a fantastic opportunity to make Erie an even better place to live, work, and play. Come down to the Admiral Room at the library to learn how you can use your abilities to enhance the Erie area. Local entrepreneur Karen Rzepecki of ReCap Mason Jars highly recommends the training, saying, "you'll have fun and learn a lot." Sounds like a win/win.

For more information, please check the Made in Erie Training Facebook page, or contact Erin McCracken, Erie County Public Library, 451.6959 emccracken@eriecountypa.gov. To register for the afternoon workshops please email idealab@eriecountypa.gov. Registered participants should plan to attend both the morning presentations and the afternoon workshops.

Supporters of Made in Erie Training include: Ben Franklin Technology PArtners, CIVITAS, Edinboro University of PA, Erie Art Museum, Erie Arts & Culture, Friends of the Erie County Library, Innovation Collaborative, Innovation Erie, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Radius Co-work and the StARTup Incubator Fund.