Setting up the Learning Studio – Day 1

Yesterday, Nicole, Ryoko, Lianna and I spent our first full day down at Pier 15 and started setting up the Learning Studio, our “backstage” space to develop ideas to take out on the museum floor in the Tinkering Studio and collaborate with all sorts visiting artists and tinkerers. It’s going to take a long time to build up the sense of history and create the warm environment that we enjoyed in our old space at the PFA, but it will also be fun to start from “scratch” and make a space that works for us and our collborators. Here’s a quick glimpse at our initial steps to inhabit our new home.

First thing after unpacking the moving boxes, we set up our classic dogbone-shaped table and the room already started to feel more familiar.

Our big shelving units haven’t arrived yet, but the array of plastic bins full of interesting materials also helped to create some tinkering ambiance.

While assembling our heavy-duty butcher-block work tables, Ryoko and I also got the chance to test out the softness and comfort-level of our new floor.

We’re prepared for all kins of quirks and surprises at our new building, like this door that has no evident method of being opened.

We’ll also have to get used to not being able to find everything we need right away until get settled in. Luckily we had the tinkering skills necessary to make a homemade speaker system that, while not as good as our regular one, ended up working pretty well.

One of the perks of our new location is being a few minutes walk from the Ferry Building farmers market and food stands. We sampled the offerings during our lunch break and enjoyed the downtown San Francisco views.

A priority for us is to get a working shop space up and running so that we can start building environmental elements for both the learning studio and the tinkering studio, as well as tweak many of the activities and ideas we’ve been working on for the big opening. Nicole set up some of our most commonly used tools and uncovered the first aid kit, power drivers, soldering irons, work lights, tool box, and all the other elements needed to make a comfortable work space.

And right outside the learning studio windows, contractors are continuing working on constructing our tinkering studio space and marble machine area. Yesterday they were framing out the steel supports for our public workshop space. There’s still a lot of work to be done to get the gallery ready for visitors in a couple of months, but it’s exciting to be at the new site with our group, figuring out how to create the best experience for the visitors (and us) at the pier.

We’ll keep the updates coming fast and furious as our new tinkering studio and learning studio continue to take shape. Meanwhile check out the whole set of photos Day 1 here!