Today a dream is coming true for me. I’m in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a crew of artists and we’re scanning the artwork here, we’re sharing them, and we’re hacking on them.

You can follow along here on the MakerBot blog, the MakerBot Twitter, follow the #MET3D hashtag and the newest things on Thingiverse.

I was an art teacher in Seattle Public Schools and with my students I could only get them to a museum once a year. Together we would get on a bus, go get a tour of a museum and go back to school.

It was great to go to a museum, but it was limited. I had a wish then that I could bring the museum into the classroom. Little did I know that 6 years later, I would be in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with some of the best artists and designers in the world scanning art and sharing it on Thingiverse for the world to download and make. We’re taking it even farther than that though. I don’t think I imagined that the work could be changed, mashed-up, hacked, and remade. It is truly a brilliant and wonderful future we live in where you can go into a museum that allows photography, take lots of pictures and then use 123D Catch to turn it into a model and share it on Thingiverse.

I’m so proud of the Met. It’s my town’s museum and it’s a brave and bold institution and it is so forward thinking that they’ve invited us in to scan, hack, and make things. When I started Thingiverse, I knew that I wanted the classic sculptures of the world to be in the universal library of things, but I imagined that someone would have to pull off the ultimate heist to make that happen. Instead of having to steal the art, the Met shares the future vision of MakerBot where the greatest artworks of the world are accessible to everyone and they’ve invited us in to make history and share the art with the world.

I’m thrilled about this, but it’s just the beginning. I hope that you will explore and capture and share the great artworks of your town. Together, we can create a great database that will inspire the next generation of artists.

People who subscribe to our newsletter (check the top right corner of this blog to sign up!), already know that what we’re doing at the Met today is the start of something huge. Like, super huge. The size of the Earth, and we’re putting all of it on Thingiverse.

Or rather, you’re putting it on Thingiverse!

Today is the beginning of the MakerBot Capture Your Town initiative. Just like the artists at the Met this weekend are using their cameras to pick out amazing pieces of art to photograph and process with 123D Catch, you can find the things where you live that make it your home. Maybe it’s an old water fountain in the park, or the office building you drive to every day, or your City Hall, or a statue, or your cat. Maybe it’s a model of the Waldo Emerson Inn in Kennebunk, Maine, that I noticed on Tinkercad yesterday.¹

Or this awesome Arch, already on Thingiverse.

This is everyone’s chance – my chance, your chance, your grandma’s chance – to realize that we are living in a time where the limits on what we can do with the things around us are dropping like flies. Even if you don’t own a MakerBot, you can contribute to the museum of the future, or #futuremuseum on twitter, that Thingiverse is becoming.

All you need is your camera, a steady hand, and the free software 123D Catch from Autodesk.

Let’s build a map of the world that the MakerBot Community lives in, starting with your town. Watch this blog and our twitter for updates and guidance. Once you are ready to share your models, be sure to tag it on twitter (#futuremuseum) and on Thingiverse (futuremuseum). Get your gears turning and go!

1. Hey, did anyone notice you can now embed things from Tinkercad?! [↩]