Eugenia Ortiz, an Overland Park artist, was at a crossroads in 2018. She was facing personal challenges. Professionally, she needed to expand into a new creative phase. So she posted a question on Facebook. Did anyone know where she could access a machine that would help her with her new ideas requiring artistic cutting and etchings she wanted to do in Plexiglass and other materials?
Someone responded that she should check out the Black & Veatch MakerSpace, which provides free use of laser cutters, 3D printers, a CNC router, electronics equipment and other devices, at Central Resource Library. Little did Ortiz know, but that answer has helped her profoundly, not only with her professional endeavors but even with emotional healing.
She first visited the MakerSpace in summer 2018 and was struck by how helpful staff facilitators Thomas Maillioux, Brian Oertel and Nick Ward-Bopp were….
