How one Pittsburgh community org is keeping the ‘art’ in STEAM education

Nina Barbuto thinks in verbs, words that capture movement. 

It’s that mentality that builds community, she said, which is exactly what Barbuto works toward as the executive director of Assemble in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood. 

Assemble bills itself as a space to generate and share ideas. It’s a place for fun events and workshops to help kindle interest in science, technology, engineering, art and math, known as STEAM. In practice, that looks like K-12 programming, as well as workshops and programs for older teens and adults — from afternoon crafts to professional development and more. 

Because minorities, people of color, women and other marginalized groups are often boxed out of STEAM, Assemble wants to bridge that gap early and open doors for Pittsburghers. 

“There’s a lot of creativity that happens that isn’t being welcomed into these spaces,” Barbuto said. “If we’re not doing something about it, we’re accepting it.”

The organization offers programs during the school year and summer camps for kids aged 5 to 18 years. It also hosts adult nights for crafting, learning new skills and, most importantly, building community. 

Assemble also aims to make sure that everyone has a chance to see themselves reflected in all of the STEAM fields by providing programs that both teach skills and show how they can be used to build careers. 

“It’s a really magical place,” she said. “It’s a way of learning, a platform and an experiment.”

Bringing Pittsburgh locals of all ages into STEAM

A thriving Pittsburgh tech economy requires building relationships between the tech companies that call Pittsburgh home and the locals. That’s why Assemble works with people of all ages and backgrounds to introduce them to STEAM. 

To do that, Assemble brings in guest experts from local companies to help kids see a future in STEAM careers, said Tany Haynes, afterschool coordinator and educator at Assemble.

“I think there’s a lot of talent here, but the danger would be only focusing on a specific type of individual,” Haynes said. 

Assemble focuses on diverse experts to showcase tech leaders from all different backgrounds. They’re “being intentional with who we want to bring into the space. Guest experts who kind of look like the kids,” Haynes said.

It’s not just for kids, though. Assemble offers workshops for adults to learn or build new skills, like how to bridge the gap between craft and technology. 

At a computational thinking workshop recently, participants learned to think through and solve problems more deliberately, said Evelyn Leinhard, adult learning coordinator and teacher at Assemble.

“It’s an intentional way of processing information, creating ideas, trying out solutions and finding the best solution,” she said. 

Other examples of adult workshops might include a crochet evening, a clay creations workshop, or Queer Craft Night.

“It’s the same kind of stuff we’re trying with the kids – building confidence through making,” Leinhard said. “But with adults, they have more agency in their own lives to take what they’re learning and bring it to other places.” 

Assemble stands behind the ‘art’ in STEAM

The 2008 recession inspired Barbuto to create Assemble when she was fresh out of grad school. She saw public spaces popping up in Los Angeles at that time and the value they added to building community.

“Smartphones were just coming out and we had access to infinite knowledge in the palm of our hands,” she said. “But we still needed spaces to come together, to learn together.” 

Her background in architecture — as a 2006 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s architecture program, and a 2008 graduate of a mediascapes masters program from SCI-Arc in LA — taught her how art fits into the STEM traditions, Barbuto said.

When learning about architecture and design, Barbuto said she didn’t realize she was learning how to take ideas and translate them into something people can see themselves in.
She said that’s the “art” in STEAM. 

Some people leave art out, but Barbuto won’t have it. Art, or how you present your ideas to the outside world, is a vital piece of STEM, she said. 

“They’re intrinsically connected. If we aren’t able to communicate about what we’ve observed, our science dies,” Barbuto said. “If you’re able to express yourself in a way that’s understandable and received by others, the connection is priceless. It’s everything.”