The question is: Does the A provide something on its own that may get diluted when it is wedged between S T E and M? The value of making is well documented, but are there also benefits to imagination and open-ended exploration without an emphasis on producing something tangible?

Fashion design is a natural companion to the maker and STEAM movements. It calls for risk, creativity, and technical precision, and there is plenty of the latter when it comes to e-fashion.

On any typical day in the MAKESHOP at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, kids and families are woodworking, tinkering with circuits, and crafting cardboard swords and shields. But nestled in the corner of the bustling workshop is the trusty stalwart of the space: the four-harness floor loom. Rebecca Grabman, MAKESHOP manager, said the loom is […]

The signal that “arts matter,” in STEM or any other discipline, is not one that every education institution has received. Changing this line of thinking, at universities and in K–12 schools, is at the core of the national push for stronger STEAM education—or STEM with the inclusion of arts and all the skills they nurture.

How the arts, along with STEM subjects, make the mind “fertile for future learning.”

Bill Strickland may not be familiar with the term “21st Century skills,” but he’s been helping kids build them and a whole lot more for years at his urban arts centers. The centers began in Pittsburgh in 1968 and are being replicated across the country. Strickland says the model teaches kids “how to have confidence that the problems they’re encountering are solvable.”

In the coal fields of West Virginia, there are now 3D printers and robots in classrooms. Here’s how technology is giving kids in this region a peek at a new kind of future.

This holiday season, spark a lifelong love of STEM learning with gifts that give the kids in your lives a chance to tinker: a visit to the MAKESHOP, a roll of duct tape, a mini circuitry kit, and much more.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett better watch out—young Pittsburgh makers have built a worthy competitor.

A photoessay from Pittsburgh Youth Media reporter, Maggie Mayer, on The Labs @ CLP's program, Art on the Move at the main branch in Oakland.

Partnerships with museums, libraries and youth organizations help ensure that kids stay engaged and learning all summer long.

As technology empowers today’s kids to explore, create, and share their interests in new ways both in and out of school, ensuring access to quality arts education for all our students is an imperative.

Abby Mendelson writes about Nina Marie Barbuto and the learning parties at Assemble, where people come to have fun and learn-by-doing, in the Pittsburgh City Paper.

Spark-funded project White Light by Amanda Long will be offering a series of free interactive art presentations at local schools this October. Read on to learn more about what these programs will offer and how your school can take advantage of this great opportunity. White Light Preschool – 3rd Grade (PA Standards: 9.1 and more […]