Patents-By-Women Creative Invention Workshop

images of patents and inventions by women overlaid on top of green and pink engineering designs
Images are Patents by three Black Women Inventors: Sarah E. Goode Patent for a Cabinet Bed, 1885, Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin, 1888, and Judy W. Reed, 1884.
Speaker: 
Sarah Buckius, artist, educator, and engineer
Event Date: 
October 5, 2023
Event Time: 
4:00pm to 5:00pm
Location: 
Lane Hall, Room 2239
Event Accessibility : 
Ramp and elevator access at the E. Washington Street entrance (by the loading dock). There are accessible restrooms on the south end of Lane Hall, on each floor of the building. A gender neutral restroom is available on the first floor.
Event Tags: 
exhibit space
exhibit
lane hall gallery
humanities
stem
artists
reception
images of patents and inventions by women overlaid on top of green and pink engineering designs
Images are Patents by three Black Women Inventors: Sarah E. Goode Patent for a Cabinet Bed, 1885, Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin, 1888, and Judy W. Reed, 1884.

In this workshop, lead by artist Sarah Buckius, we will use Patents by Women (from the late 1800s to 1940) as starting points to investigate creativity strategies that range from improvisation to blue-sky-brainstorming to problem solving. Investigating problems solved by patents reveals DEI considerations related to their inventors. Inventions can be points of departure for wild, playful, even absurd, ideas that follow a creative path to ideas for real solutions to real problems. 

This workshop is free and open to all U-M students, faculty, staff, and members of the public.

REGISTER

About the Artist:

Sarah Buckius is an artist, educator, and engineer who lives in Santa Cruz, California. Originally from the midwest (Champaign, IL), she holds an M.F.A. from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her creative work, which incorporates digital media (video, photography, collage, animation) and performance, has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Through her work, she weaves "Intertwined HerStories" that originate from the cross-section of -gender--technology--lens-based-media--the human body--caregiving-. She works in the space of absurdity that emerges at the point of disconnect between the seemingly coded / structured / ordered / production-based space of technology and the messy / complex / idiosyncratic space of humanity and is interested in uncovering the ways in which working with and creating technology illuminates humanness, including gender biases. With an underlying goal of supporting DEI in STEM fields, her work illuminates the ingenuity of diverse groups of people.

“!!!techn010ffspring!!!” is open for viewing M-F, 9am-4pm or by appointment. University of Michigan instructors can email LaneHallExhibits@umich.edu to request a group tour or schedule a class visit.

This project was made possible by a grant from the Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan and co-sponsored by U-M’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender with support from the Arts Council Santa Cruz County.