What is the Denton Maker Center?
Denton Maker Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, strives to be the central location for creative making in the greater Denton, TX area. This will be accomplished by providing activities and resources that nurture a community of makers.
Activities include workshops (both in-person and online), exhibitions, sales, open studio times, and related special events. Resources include tools/equipment, expertise of personnel, safe workspace, exhibition space, and a retail store.
Generation of public interest and appreciation will be accomplished through promotion of these activities and resources through personal networking, social media, website, print materials, and shared distribution by aligned institutions.
Our Mission Statement
The DMC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; to support, promote, and encourage all of the arts related to making including, but not limited to, the visual and performing arts, contemporary craft, design, and cultural traditional practices through fostering public interest, support, and appreciation of all arts and crafts programming available to the public in the greater Denton, TX area.
Board of Directors
Secretary
Umut Demirgüç Thurman is a multidisciplinary artist who has been an art educator for twenty-eight years. In addition to her achievements as a studio artist and educator, she is a well-respected author. Prior to publishing Türkiye's first enameling book in 2022, she wrote numerous articles in a wide range of international publications.
MFA: UNT, Metalsmithing and Jewelry (2005)
BFA: MSGSÜ, Textile Design (1996)James Thurman is a Professor of Metalsmithing & Jewelry at the University of North Texas’ College of Visual Arts & Design. He received his MFA in Metalsmithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and his BFA in Sculpture from Carnegie Mellon University. A prolific and highly active studio artist for over twenty-five years, his work has been included in hundreds of national and international curated and juried exhibitions as well as numerous solo exhibitions.Treasurer
Teran Nickells is a chemist from Denton, Texas who currently works as a quality control analyst in Ft. Worth. While he has always had a mind for STEM, he also has a deep appreciation for art and the mechanisms by which it is achieved. Teran looks to teach about chemistry and how it is used to create artistic mediums as well as art itself. 
Kaki Crowell-Hilde
Facilities
Kaki Crowell-Hilde taught for twenty years in the North Texas area and then transitioned into the jewelry business for a decade before retiring.
She has an MFA from University of North Texas in Fibers and another MFA from East Tennessee University in Metalsmithing and Jewelry.
She also has Machine Tool Technology/CNC Certification, Gemstone and Diamond Certification through DCA, and CAD/CAM Jewelry Certification from the Gemological Institute of America.
Umut Demirgüç Thurman
James Thurman
President
