Watertown Works: Building innovation and openness with HATCH's Liz Helfer

Machines whir and chatter inside the HATCH makerspace at 50 Summer St. It is a hot summer day and Elizabeth “Liz” Helfer is demonstrating how to use some of the tools at the studio to a group of kids.

The studio is a large industrial looking room. Light wooden figurines are placed on display in the front window. Inside, on the far left wall, 3-D printers perch on top of wooden tables. The room is filled with  various electronics, and arts and crafts.

Hatching a makerspace

HATCH makerspace is a public workshop, run by the Watertown Public Library, where anyone can stop by and learn creative skills, from how to sew, to using a 3D printer, to soldering. The roster of programs has something for everyone and, one of the best parts, it’s free.

Helfer is the HATCH coordinator. She organizes the programing and runs the everyday operations of the studio. HATCH has changed a lot since the studio first opened its doors in 2015, Helfer said. Before she started, volunteers ran the studio.

Watertown Public Library’s Assistant Director Caitlin Browne spearheaded the project back in 2013. At the time library staff already organized most of maker programs at the library. Browne and the library staff started discussing whether a public workshop would interest the community.

“It was a very organic process. It wasn’t something super planned out,” Browne said.

In 2015, the library procured a free space at the Arsenal Mall for their new project. Once that happened, things began taking off.

As the space continued to grow, Browne realized they needed to hire a full-time employee to sustain the space. This is where Helfer came in.

HATCH needed more oversight, a person to run the show and give the studio more consistency. Browne spoke with Helfer and thought her artistic background as a sculptor and maker would make Helfer a great fit for the space.

“[Helfer] has brought an artistic lens to the project,” Browne said. “Up until she came along we were focused on tech and more on skills and trade and less on the art. She is folding the art back into it.”

The “artsy” twin

Helfer knew at an early age she would be a creator. She has an identical twin sister Rebecca and, together, they decided that Liz would be the “artsy” twin and Rebecca would be the “bookish” twin.

Helfer won the “most artistic” superlative every year at school. After graduating high school, she studied sculpture at Alfred University. Helfer has her own studio now where she creates cast metal and mixed sculptures.

When Helfer first applied to work at the HATCH, she said she did not know a lot about the space. As she learned more, Helfer said she realized what a cool place it was.

Run entirely by volunteers at the start, Helfer said HATCH’s success was incredible.

“Very few places can operate just from volunteers,” she said.

"The epicenter of something cool"

In the two years since Helfer started as coordinator she has helped HATCH to create and standardized a core program. The studio now has a number of regular participants and HATCH continues to grow and further establish its presence in town.

“Every day I come in here and learn something which is really incredible,” she said.

At the moment, Browne said the makerspace has reached its capacity in terms of what they can do and the programs they can offer. She said HATCH can not accommodate too many more people at the Summer Street location.

The Residence, an independent and assisted living facility, donated the Summer Street space to the Hatch. Browne said they are grateful to use the space, but there is no guarantee they can stay there for the long-term.

“We would really love to find a space someday that is permanent. That we know is ours, and is probably bigger so we could establish a few more skills and trade in there,” Browne said.

Right now, Liz is the only full-time employee at the studio but, they are on the crisp of hiring a Hatch Makerspace Assistant.

As HATCH continues to grow, Helfer said the makerspace is becoming a more integral part of the community and is part of an identity Watertown would like to build.

“It is about accessibility, openness and innovation. I think that is a message the Town Council, Town Manager, and different businesses in Watertown would all like to convey to an outside community. We would like to be an epicenter of something cool, and I think HATCH embodies that,” Helfer said.

For a more about HATCH and a list of classes and programs visit: watertownlib.org/148/Hatch