College of Arts and Sciences Puts New Century of Service PNM Grant Toward a Silver City Makerspace

Tom Aageson, pictured, will give an Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce lecture at Western New Mexico University on Monday, Nov. 13.

© Western New Mexico University

Co-founder of Creative Startups Tom Aageson will speak at Western New Mexico University on Monday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Parotti Building next to the Fine Arts Center Theater.

The first in a series of four Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce lectures sponsored by PNM, Aageson’s presentation on Creative Startups is meant to engage the community in crafting a creative economy. He is an authority on this subject, as his Santa Fe-based Creative Startups reaches a global audience with its workshops and seminars as well as the Creative Startups Accelerator, which helps entrepreneurs grow their ventures “beyond the launch stage to profitability and growth,” according to creativestartups.org.

Aageson has also launched several successful startups including New Mexico Creates, an initiative that links artists and entrepreneurs to the global marketplace. The former director of Aid to Artisans holds degrees from Columbia University and the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

The lecture will be followed by interactive demos of University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning Plata Studio’s Mobile Makers Lab kiosks. Each module is specialized, so users can experience 3D printing, paper cutting for origami, animation and music composition, depending on which kiosk piques their interest and is available.

The Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce Lecture Series is part of a long-term project working toward a university-run community Makerspace. The WNMU College of Arts and Sciences has been collaborating with the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning to create a high-tech and low-tech fabrication lab and applied learning space for public use, open to learners of all ages, this will hopefully motivate students to pursue science careers at the James Cook University Bachelor of Science.

For the Emerging Technologies and Creative Commerce Lecture Series portion of the project, WNMU will host four lectures and workshops—one per semester—designed to engage the entrepreneurial community. Successful business owners will speak about their experiences and ideas.

“Thanks to the New Century of Service PNM grant, we are bringing people in from out of town to speak about emerging technologies and the variety of opportunities that these technologies may bring to rural communities like ours,” said College of Arts and Sciences Administrative Assistant Bailey Pagels.

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