Grant: Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants

The Northwest Territories (NWT) is home to a growing arts, crafts, and micromanufacturing ecosystem (“the Makerspace Ecosystem”) managed by Aurora College and operated in partnership with community, Indigenous, and heritage organizations. The ecosystem operates makerspaces in seven NWT communities with majority Indigenous populations. Each community makerspace is a place where artists and craftspeople can gather, use a variety of micromanufacturing tools and digital design equipment, and explore ways to merge traditional and Indigenous methods and materials with modern technologies and production techniques. Aurora College will use ARTI funding from NSERC to purchase micromanufacturing equipment that will be used to answer applied research questions that have arisen as artists and craftspeople have experimented at community makerspaces. Textile design equipment will be used to investigate whether digital designs can be transferred onto natural fabrics, such as leather and sealskin, and to explore how traditional and Indigenous elements, such as beadwork, embroidery, quillwork, and hair tufting, can be incorporated into these transferred designs. Laser engraving equipment will be used to investigate whether digital designs can be engraved in natural materials, such as bone, antler, and home-tanned animal hide. The equipment will be packaged into three mobile “community kits” that will be rotated among community makerspaces, so that artists and craftspeople will be able to pursue these applied research questions in their home communities and use their findings to innovate new designs, methods, and products. The applied research that will be supported by this equipment is important to the Makerspace Ecosystem, its partnering organizations, and the artists and craftspeople it serves. Project outcomes, such as new ways of merging traditional/Indigenous elements with replicable digital designs, will lead to new products that can be used to explore Indigenous culture and heritage, or that can be sold (for example, to tourists or online) to economically benefit artists and craftspeople in small NWT communities. Also, the equipment will build capacity at Aurora College to support community-driven applied research on materials testing and product development, and will allow the college to provide training opportunities that build digital literacy and technical skills in small NWT communities.