Beyond the Bubbler
A part of Madison Community Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Year of Giving in 2017, Beyond the Bubbler was established as an outreach program to expand the reach of the The Bubbler at Madison Public Library through maker kits and maker experiences at 13 Madison community centers. We focused on professional development around maker education for staff of the centers, the addition of maker kits and materials unique to the community of each center, and building connections and raising funds to hire teaching artists for workshops and residencies.
Read more below about our Madison community center partnerships!
Funding for Beyond the Bubbler was generously provided by the Madison Community Foundation, Year of Giving.
Bayview Community Center
The pilot site for Beyond the Bubbler, Bayview has focused on the strengths of their staff team by tapping into kits that explore coding, engineering, and circuitry. Through investing in kits that naturally compliment the current after-school & summer programming they have provided their unique learners with new and interesting ways to engage. Bayview also places value on the participants feedback, allowing older elementary students the opportunity to make decisions on what kits they will continue to invest in moving forward.
Learn more at bayviewfoundation.org.
Badger Rock Neighborhood Center
Badger Rock planned to utilize Beyond the Bubbler funding to increase their youth & family engagement at their CommUNITY Dinner & Badger Rock Community Market events. The dinners and markets have become a popular destination for all ages of this community. Showcasing unique Makers Kits at these events will support creative activities & provide a much needed outlet for cultural & community expression. Compensating artists of color to share their culture and traditions to will help us celebrate the diversity of those participating in our programming.
Learn more at badgerrock.org.
Centro Hispano of Dane County
Staff and community members at Centro Hispano of Dane County are excited to partner with Beyond the Bubbler in order to support and enhance the possibilities at their Mercadito de Invierno. Mercadito is not your traditional farmer's market - modeled on the mercaditos you find in Latin America it brings together culinary experiences with entertainment the whole family can enjoy! Some of the things to look forward to include live cooking demonstrations and food sampling, fun and free maker activities for children, local products on sale, musical and dance performances.
Learn more at micentro.org/mercadito.
Bridge - Lake Point - Waunona Neighborhood Center
Bridge - Lake Point - Waunona believes everyone has their own type of creativity and passions. Their staff will draw from the tight-nit relationships in their Neighborhood Center in order to develop skills in the teen & elementary-aged participants which can be used beyond their space, and strengthen community connections with local artists and experts. Knowing that their youth get excited about different activities and have a variety of learning styles, their staff plans to measure success by gathering feedback at regular intervals and recording the longevity of their participation in maker projects.
Learn more at blwcenter.org.
Neighborhood House
Neighborhood House seeks to further develop their maker resources both within current programs and by creating new opportunities. People come together to learn and grow at Neighborhood House and they strive to make their space as enabling as possible. With a focus on youth ages 7-12 & college students, they're exploring the best options while being mindful about how to connect to as many people as possible. This collaboration will help their maker space grow intelligently in the most relevant ways.
Learn more at neighborhoodhousemadison.org.
Kennedy Heights Community Center
Kennedy Heights plans to adopt a number of maker kits for their Center including Keva Planks and Strawbees. Their staff members have explored the options available and plan to invest in maker kits that can particularly scale up or down depending on the ages of their students. Building on relationships already in place and with the potential to intentionally connect with new artists and experts, Kennedy Heights staff have begun to explore opportunities around staff training and in-house workshops.
Learn more at khcommunitycenter.org.
East Madison Community Center
EMCC has a staff team of diverse interests ranging from dance & movement to woodworking & mechanics, these passions & strengths will help ground the maker activities at their center. Through Beyond the Bubbler they plan to explore various mediums with their students in order to work towards creating a “neighborhood portrait project” which will exhibit the vast uniqueness and diversity of all parts of their community. Based on their proximity to Madison College, EMCC hopes this project will build capacity allowing for stronger connections to community artists and experts in the trades.
Learn more at eastmadisoncc.org.
Salvation Army Community Center
The Salvation Army have staff working within their Youth Program to instill values for their children by planting a seed for them to develop strong roots in their community. The staff at Salvation Army (Darbo) continues to encourage students of all ages to experiment with new tools and mediums in order to grow in their space and explore by spreading their wings into the broader community.
Learn more at centralusa.salvationarmy.org/danecounty.
Lussier Community Education Center
LCEC plans to use funds from Beyond the Bubbler to encourage youth who join LCEC after-school and summer camps to expand their ideas of making & spark their desire and willingness to learn more and think outside the box. Kids will gain confidence & ignite their creativity. Working with Beyond the Bubbler artists & staff will help take their efforts in maker and arts programming from episodic to systemic through staff development & creation of maker spaces that are culturally and racially informed and inclusive. As we dive deeper into areas of making we hope to engage kids across different levels of learning allowing high school students to help elementary learners and visa versa.
Learn more at lcecmadison.org.
Meadowood Neighborhood Center
Meadowood kids are bursting with creativity, with adequate resources, opportunities, and connections through Beyond the Bubbler, their staff aims to build avenues for creative expression through art. They would like to introduce their students to art in different forms through the lens of theater & production. Using theater as a platform they hope participants will find their niche in various areas of making such as set construction & design, sewing costumes, script-writing, & acting.
Learn more at mscr.org/meadowood.
Allied Learning Center
Allied Learning Center is very excited to build on their partnership with the Madison Public Library. With an already strong relationship in place, staff at the Allied Learning Center is ready to more fully integrate some of their favorite maker activities into their everyday programming. Their students have shown excitement around maps & mazes & engineering. They look forward to having maker kits as a continued opportunity available for their kids to explore, problem-solve, & collaborate. With a new mural on display at their Center, more and more community members have peeked interest in other creative opportunities.
Learn more at mscr.org.