Visitors explore the Science Museum of Virginia's new permanent exhibition, "The Forge." (Photo by Elise Kim)
Given that I grew up with a father working in construction, you’d think that I would’ve used a hammer before. But until recently, I hadn’t. It took a pencil-building workshop at "The Forge," a new makerspace and permanent exhibition at the Science Museum of Virginia, for me to get hands-on experience with some common tools.
Constructing a pencil requires sawing through a stick and drilling a hole to put lead inside, which I found out shortly before trying it myself at the museum. Sawing was foreign and awkward to my touch-screen-comfortable hand, and I was embarrassed that children nearby were having an easier time with the task. Hammering in the lead required a delicate touch with a blunt tool, so I used both hands to steady the hammer and not break the lead. After working on the brownish stick for 10 minutes, I sharpened it with another tool I’ve never used before, a utility knife. Suddenly, the brownish stick with lead poking out of it started looking like a real pencil.
Hammer time: Elise Kim makes a pencil the hard way. (Photo courtesy Science Museum of Virginia)
"The Forge" emphasizes hand-held tools and construction, but stepping into the exhibition, it seems more like entering a spaceship than a dusty workshop. With its customizable digital wallpaper on the right, and a swarm of 500 color-changing, cylindrical light bulbs above the pathway on the left, I felt like an astronaut discovering different gadgets and displays.
“We want guests to touch, and we encourage them to ask ‘Why?’ and ‘What if?’ ” says Jennifer Guild, manager of communications and curiosity at the Science Museum of Virginia.
If you’re not in the mood to make, there are still things to learn. The WestRock Gallery displays some inventions created in Virginia. Who knew that Robitussin, the only medicine that could get rid of my nasty coughs as a child, was invented here? Or that tube ChapStick was also created in Virginia? Or that the slogan “Virginia Is for Lovers” was the creation of a fellow Virginia Commonwealth University student?
“I really want people to use this space for general knowledge, basic skills and learning how to use tools that they’ve never seen or used before,” says Matt Baker, the museum's director of maker education.
There are daily hands-on workshops at "The Forge" as well as “maker challenges,” which invite visitors to think creatively to complete a task. Maker workshops require registration since they run a bit longer and involve taking home the invention. Maker challenges don’t require registration and take place in the morning.
"The Forge" is open during museum hours; see the website for a schedule of workshops and challenges. Science of Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad St.
