PINE RIDGE, SD – The town of Whiteclay in Nebraska is just a mile south of the Pine Ridge Reservation, which has been ravaged by alcohol abuse over the years. To reverse this Whiteclay makerspace now provides jobs and resources for local artists.
Whiteclay was once just a city of bars. A Wild West community where people from neighboring towns would drink alcohol, but that changed four years ago. The liquor stores were closed to make way for new business.
“There are a lot of people who live in the country, they come and buy alcohol,” says Makerspace assistant Nadine Morrison. “It was just an alcohol town, and one of the biggest improvements is that those bars are gone and the people on the streets are gone.”
Just over half of the native households on Pine Ridge depend on home-based businesses for income, with four in five made up of some form of traditional art. An estimated 30% of artists live below the poverty line, but local artists do not have access to resources. Many have to travel to Rapid City for equipment and supplies.
“Many of them live in RVs or homes that have more than one family,” said Morrison. “There will be more space to work and maybe have that privacy or get away from your family for a few hours and come here and not be distracted or not be distracted.”
For just $ 1 a day, artists can use equipment such as carpentry tools, a new 3D printer, and a quilting machine donated by the Rapid City Rotary Club. The makerspace is open Wednesday by Flie down from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with plans to expand the storefront and add an online shop.
