Fast Facts about OCtober’s Maker Meetup hosts

Here’s what [we hope] you already know:

The next Maker City Makers Meetup is next week on October 17 at Mighty Mud on Jennings Avenue. Two of its neighbors, the Knoxville Community Darkroom and the Brewing + Distilling Center, also will be on hand to tell us about what they do (and in the Brewing Center’s case, share some beer). Let us know you’re coming by registering here.

Want some background beforehand? Get to know our three hosts with these fast facts, and then visit with them at October’s Maker Meetup!

+ MIGHTY MUD

Around 60 ceramic artists rent space at Mighty Mud. The ceramics center also hosts a bunch of classes, everything from creating ceramic pumpkins to Wine + Wheel evenings.

Owner Barron Hall also teaches pottery and sculpture at Maryville College.

Fun fact: Mighty Mud is the only local clay and glaze supplier in East Tennessee. It also has gallery space for its artists to display their work.

This week Mighty Mud is building a 36 cubic foot Train wood kiln in the back yard. It’s also using the opportunity to teach others about kiln building. Here’s more info about that.

+ BREWING + DISTILLING CENTER

The Brewing + Distilling Center opened in 2017 and, since then has had about 50 students complete its 13-week program.

Owner Todd White was a veterinarian in Maryville for about 20 years. He said he perfected beer drinking while in vet school.

Later he taught science classes at Pellissippi State and South College. He also was a part owner of The Market in Maryville and got entrenched in the craft beer community while there, he said.

Todd likes hanging out with craft brewers, he said, because they’re “really smart, passionate about what they do, hardworking, and … it’s beer.”

Todd teaches chemistry and microbiology to his students and brings in local brewers and distillers to teach those classes respectively.

The center also offers two homebrewing classes just for fun, and occasional classes on making mead and cider.

The center’s mini system brews about 20 gallons of beer at a time, and students make four or five batches of beer during their 13-week session. (That’s the beer we’ll be drinking at the Maker Meetup.)

+ KNOXVILLE COMMUNITY DARKROOM

The Knoxville Community Darkroom is a nonprofit committed to providing facilities and education around traditional film processes. All of its equipment has been donated by the community.

Founder Lisa Flanary also teaches photography at Carson-Newman University.

Members have 24/7 access to the facility and can use the chemicals there for developing and printmaking.

The Darkroom hosts open houses on Mondays from 6 to 9pm. Drop-ins are welcome.

It also has gallery space for members to display their work. The gallery also is used for class exhibitions and juried shows.