Northeast Ohio makerspaces promote creativity, building community

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Northeast Ohio makerspaces are promoting creativity, building community

精东影业 | By J. Nungesser

Published April 16, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT

CHAMP Makerspace in Canton has a wide selection of working areas to use such as the metal fabrication and woodworking areas. Spaces like this allow members to access tools and resources for their projects that they wouldn't normally have access to at home.

After delving into the world of makerspaces for a recent story, I鈥檓 still in awe of how creative and teamwork-oriented Northeast Ohio makers are!

From seven amazing floors filled with every type of machine and tool at the Sears Think[box] at Case Western Reserve University to the Battlebot-style fighting robots at CHAMP Makerspace in Canton, it was so fascinating to see firsthand how fellow creatives are coming together to teach, learn and hone their craft.

In a time of great division in this country, it's amazing to see regular people with a skill or trade come to one of these makerspaces to share their craft and teach someone who maybe never used a saw, a heat gun or a 3D printer how to use those tools. In turn, they can then create their own work of art out of a piece of wood, canvas or metal pipe.

Michael Crawford's life was changed thanks to what he learned at one makerspace.

The Cleveland resident told me he came to Think[box] not knowing a single thing about how to engrave with a laser but had an idea for laser-engraved wooden shoeboxes. The makerspace not only helped him learn how to bring his idea to life, it also provided him with the entrepreneurial skills he had lacked to develop a business concept. He now hangs out with famous rappers like Machine Gun Kelly and Missy Elliott who he counts as clients.

Michael Crawford of Cleveland is a maker-turned-entrepreneur boasts rappers Machine Gun Kelly and Missy Elliott as clients for his laser-engraved shoeboxes. He learned to engrave at the Sears Think[box] in Cleveland. — Michael Crawford of Cleveland is a maker-turned-entrepreneur and boasts rappers Machine Gun Kelly and Missy Elliott as clients for his laser-engraved shoeboxes. He learned to engrave at the Sears Think[box] in Cleveland.

Makerspaces can provide fertile soil that allows ideas to germinate and grow.

Community also tends to be of great importance to members of these spaces. Robert Hasenyager, president of the Akron Makerspace, told me about a time when his members came together to transform a wheelchair for a child in Stow into a Star Wars X-wing fighter. Hasenyager鈥檚 crew came together and built the wings, added lights and sound effects. They made a little boy鈥檚 dream to be an X-wing fighter pilot come true.

Sure, there are bigger makerspaces in Akron, Canton and Cleveland, but makerspaces are much more common than you might realize. Even your local library may offer some of the same tools you'll find in the larger makerspaces in Northeast Ohio. Maybe it鈥檚 just a few things, like a 3D printer.

As a model railroader I鈥檝e been inspired through my reporting to find a little time to stop by my Cleveland library branch to see what they鈥檝e got and get my own lessons on how I might use a 3D printer to add to my train layout.

And who knows? The tools of a makerspace and the power to transform what resides in your imagination into reality may also be right around the corner for you.

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