A new local startup is aiming to draw more locals to science, technology, art and mathematics, or STEAM.
Taylor Jo Davis and Doug Holley Jr. originally launched Cyber City Connections as an outlet for creative exercises, primarily producing content and event promotion. Then their focus shifted to applying their artistic proclivities toward giving back to the community.
“As a company, we began with one specific goal,” said Davis. “And now we’ve kind of put that on the back burner to pursue these things that we feel like could be maybe a more service to the CSRA.”
Cyber City Connections is striding toward that new objective this summer with two five-day camps for youngsters from ages six to 15, that entail arts and crafts, games, team challenges and even robotics.
“The idea is to take the disciplines involved in STEAM and kind of show the coolest parts of them off to kids, so that no matter what their interest is, we kind of like scoop them up and show them that STEAM is exciting, STEAM is cool,” Davis explained.
At the Shape A City summer camp, from July 10 – 14, kids ages six to 14 will build a model of a STEM city, making buildings out of cardboard, and constructing simple working vehicles such as cars and boats.
“And we’re going to talk about the elements that make up the community,” said Davis. “Just kind of getting them civic minded, thinking about where they live and ways to make it better.”
The World Travelers summer camp, from July 17 – 21, will have kids ages eight to 15 exploring biomes by building life-sized, interactive museum exhibits out of recycled materials, which their parents can come see at the end of the week.
Last year, the Greater Augusta Arts Council awarded Davis an Individual Artist Grant funded by the National Endowment of the Arts. Brainstorming ideas for how to serve the community through the grant project was the initial impetus for founding Cyber City Connection and kickstarting its later efforts.
“What this grant represents is an attempt to connect commerce, creativity and community entities in the CSRA, through content creation, through like cooperation and partnerships,” said Holley.
This, he notes, led to considering what gaps there were in the Augusta area Cyber City could fill.
“One of the things one of the things that really stood out was the accessibility to good summer programs in underserved communities in Augusta,” he said, noting that while there were plenty of such programs in the area, many of them tend to be prohibitively expensive for many local families. “And so, we thought, well, we both have big backgrounds in science and education and childcare and theatre. And we both love science.”
The couple is partnering with Studio on Eighth, a multipurpose event space downtown, to launch the grant project and to host the summer camps. The initial grant project will culminate there this Saturday, when they will release the content they’ve produced, featuring local businesses and nonprofits and activities in the CSRA. They will also give away 300 Community Art Kits in an event promoting the camps called “Piece of CAK.”
The art kits consist of materials to put together one’s own CSRA-themed board game, complete with game pieces and QR codes to embed a virtual trivia element to the game.
“You take them and lay them out and create your own board, using the supplies that we give you,” said Davis. “You can scan the QR codes on the spaces to get to the trivia questions; it’s kind of like a local Trivial Pursuit.”
Saturday’s giveaway and the upcoming summer camps are only the beginning of Davis and Holley’s plans. The couple are seeking to go further into the nonprofit arena, apply for more grant funding and partner with other organizations to help get more kids access to STEAM programming.
“We love Augusta. I mean, that that really is at the heart of it,” said Holley. “I look at the city that I really, really love, and I see all the fractures, the divides that are there, and it seems to me that one of the ways that we can like fill those gaps, one of the ways we can address that, is by providing educational experiences at like affordable prices and accessible locations.”
Holley is an Augusta native and Davis is originally from Anderson, S.C., but is just as passionate about nurturing the best of the CSRA.
“Our mantra has kind of been, ‘find the good, and celebrate it,’” she said. “And then find the ways we can make it better.”
The Cyber City Connections content showcase, which will include the Community Art Kit giveaway, will be at Studio on Eighth, 230 Eighth St. downtown, on Saturday, July 1 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information about Cyber City Connections, and the upcoming summer camps, visit www.cybercityconnections.com.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
