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About The Nest
The Nest is the garage and hale makerspace of Okada Design—a multigenerational tinkering and talk-story space where culture, design, biology, and engineering converge. It is a space for exploration, creativity, and collaboration, fostering programs that elevate ancestral and community knowledge in conversations about innovation. As an R&D gathering space, the Nest invites communities to pose driving questions, tell stories through biology, and imagine abundant futures. The programming that emerges is shared and refined through workshops conducted in various community spaces, expanding its reach and impact.
A bit about me
I am an artist and STEAM educator working at the intersections of culture, biology, and design. My passion lies in fostering belonging through storytelling, hands-on exploration, and the slow art of making with biology. My journey with biomaking began on Maui, Hawaiʻi, where my father introduced me to the intricate relationship between culture and biology through storytelling and plant-based explorations. His tales of growing up on the Lower Paia Maui sugar cane plantation and of homemade solutions such as tobacco bags as tap water filters, shaped my early understanding of resilience and ingenuity. These experiences instilled a deep connection to biology, which I now carry forward into creative spaces that blend ancestral knowledge, community storytelling, and bio-innovation.
For over 20 years, I have developed STEAM programs in diverse communities, from East San Jose and Salinas, California, to Hawaiʻi. I am a co-founder of BioJam, now a hybrid Stanford Department of Bioengineering and Migrant Education program, and am a co-founder of ‘ĀinaQuest. In addition to conducting biomaterial workshops across the U.S, I am a practicing artist whose works are in permanent collections and art exhibits, most recently in the 2024 Getty sponsored Fathomers Emergence Exhibition in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Since moving to Oʻahu in 2022, I have more sharply focused on place-based materials and preserving community stories to explore the intersection of ancestral knowledge and creative innovation. These stories, rooted in resilience and creativity, fuel my commitment to designing inclusive workshops and art conversation spaces for imagining abundant futures.
The Nest is the garage and hale makerspace of Okada Design—a multigenerational tinkering and talk-story space where culture, design, biology, and engineering converge. It is a space for exploration, creativity, and collaboration, fostering programs that elevate ancestral and community knowledge in conversations about innovation. As an R&D gathering space, the Nest invites communities to pose driving questions, tell stories through biology, and imagine abundant futures. The programming that emerges is shared and refined through workshops conducted in various community spaces, expanding its reach and impact.
A bit about me
I am an artist and STEAM educator working at the intersections of culture, biology, and design. My passion lies in fostering belonging through storytelling, hands-on exploration, and the slow art of making with biology. My journey with biomaking began on Maui, Hawaiʻi, where my father introduced me to the intricate relationship between culture and biology through storytelling and plant-based explorations. His tales of growing up on the Lower Paia Maui sugar cane plantation and of homemade solutions such as tobacco bags as tap water filters, shaped my early understanding of resilience and ingenuity. These experiences instilled a deep connection to biology, which I now carry forward into creative spaces that blend ancestral knowledge, community storytelling, and bio-innovation.
For over 20 years, I have developed STEAM programs in diverse communities, from East San Jose and Salinas, California, to Hawaiʻi. I am a co-founder of BioJam, now a hybrid Stanford Department of Bioengineering and Migrant Education program, and am a co-founder of ‘ĀinaQuest. In addition to conducting biomaterial workshops across the U.S, I am a practicing artist whose works are in permanent collections and art exhibits, most recently in the 2024 Getty sponsored Fathomers Emergence Exhibition in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Since moving to Oʻahu in 2022, I have more sharply focused on place-based materials and preserving community stories to explore the intersection of ancestral knowledge and creative innovation. These stories, rooted in resilience and creativity, fuel my commitment to designing inclusive workshops and art conversation spaces for imagining abundant futures.
Websites: http://www.okadadesign.com/ https://nestmakerspace.weebly.com/
Social media: Instagram @corinnetakara Twitter: @CorinneTakara
Email [email protected]
