Hello from East Oakland, CA. I am Muirén (sounds like moor-RAYN), pronouns She, Her, Teknomage, Storyteller, Musician, Maker, and Fashionista.

Due to lack of interest and support, the attempted GoFundMe campaign has been cancelled.

Currently • We live in stranger times and like millions of others, COVID-19 resulted in my being laid-off from work delivering vehicles across the SF Bay Area, a loss of half my income, leaving me struggling to get by on social security. At my age (64) with an invisible disability, this places me at a disadvantage relative to younger people, and those with children searching for work.

As a Black member of the LGBTQ+ community asking why so few narratives like my own are found in Maker Culture and MakerSpaces, the answer I am told most frequently is “Black people self-exclude”.

To be clear, Black people have been historically excluded, so stating we are not officially excluded doesn’t begin to explain why we optimistically represent between 1.5 to 4 per cent of membership in Maker Culture and Spaces, with Black Women and Femmes in the ArtScience of STEAM/STREAM, making up an even smaller percentage.

My Mission • I seek a new path, to improvise, adapt, overcome, through my use of traditional and digital controlled additive and subtractive methods, I seek to leverage my experience and skills to build artisan quality solid-body and semi-acoustic body electric guitars that are innovative in function and form, technology indistinguishable from magic.

To gain a toehold on a future worth living, I really need your support in funding studio space, traditional and digital subtractive and additive manufacturing tools, work materials, and the hiring of legal expertise for incorporation.

No donation of your time, talent, or treasure is too small or of course, too large.