meet the makers: nick tobier

Nick has been working with the Brightmor Makers since a little before they were the Brightmoor Makers. Since then he has worked on transformation of the space itself, furniture design and construction, urban planning with 5th graders, circuits and sewing, toilet scrubbing and sweeping. “I first remember coming in December 2009. I meet Bart (Eddy) who took me around the neighborhood in his little car sliding on the winter ice which was especially thick that year, and then the next visit met co-DCS founders Candyce Sweda, Marcel Amen Ra and KD.”

“We agreed to try and make a bamboo bike trailer. (one of them is ” And then? Well, Nick hadn’t thought of a then then, but 10 years later there has been plenty more. When he is not working at the Brightmoor Maker Space, Nick is a professor at the University of Michigan/ Stamps School of Art & Design.

working with Mike Haag from Herman Miller, Marcus Lewis and Albert Foo on building all the furniture for Ishinomaki Lab’s first US exhibit as part of the 2017 Detroit Design Festival.

Favorite things at the Maker Space for Nick include working with all the people who make the place special, hosting visitors from down the block and around the world, and dreaming up possible and nearly impossible projects together. ” I love seeing the look on a 5th graders eyes the first time they walk in the Maker Space…and I love seeing our alums come back to share their skills and their life adventures.” Also, discovering that the speaker on the back of the Beat Bike is Bluetooth accessible has been a revelation.