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Photo / Brian Jepson
Jenine Bressner exhibiting her glass beads and dolls. Wednesday, at a Maker Faire RI workshop, she'll show you how to do the "torchwork" process, which she taught herself from a kit.
The first ever Rhode Island Maker Faire and D.I.Y. Festival is a funky festival of hands-on tech/art projects, including some you can learn how to make yourself. The first Maker Faire took place in San Mateo, Calif., in 2006, created by Make Magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset." Now they're happening worldwide.
Rhode Island's version will offer "...hands-on workshops, building & hacking competitions, culinary crafting, garage technology, arts and creativity for sale, and robot gymnastic demonstrations, culminating with a Waterfire..."
The main event is Saturday, when "Makers" from around the nation will exhibit at WaterFire. Their inventions, many of which are interactive, include tin-can telecommunications systems, X-ray photos, an electric "Cupcake Car" and a Giant Rideable BristleBot, the Stribe, Digitally Fabricated Dog House and Kid's Playhouse, remote-control airplanes, the First Lego League (FLL) SMART MOVE robot table game, fancy technocrafting with yarn, music, Bubble Art, Radical Skateboard Experiments, Silicone Art, Open Source Hardware gadgets, a Hydrolizer, The Autophenakistoscope, new music keyboard layout, a Tesla coil and robotic puppets (at right), hands on robotics, Ponaganset High School's Fuel Cell Model T, eco-designs, designer flash drives, prints, postcards, paintings and a lot more I couldn't sum up in a few words.
But all week you'll be able to dip into the workshops, and make something interesting of your own. For instance, Shawn Wallace, director of AS220 labs, offers a chance to play his game, Fluxly -- "A video game featuring wizard duels in which you must make your own hardware controller to compete. " Shawn will bring all the tools to make one to Slater Mill Tuesday evening. (If there's magic behind all this, its name is Arduino.)
Wednesday, Jenine Bressner, maker of glass jewelry and doll heads, will demonstrate torchwork, which she describes as "analogous to drawing (in) mid-air with molten glass, in three dimensions. I taught myself how to flamework with a kit I ordered in the mail more than a decade ago. "
A rep from the Arts Council will discuss RISCA resources and how to apply for grants. The hot new buzzword, Augmented Reality -- information overlays on a screen -- can become real on your laptop. (Top up your battery. Power strips are limited.)
Photo / Brian Jepson
Kipp Bradford, who holds engineering degrees from Brown, is a board member at both AS220 and The Steel Yard and one of the organizers of Maker Faire.
If you're looking for a new skill or to upgrade an old interest, or just want a "Gee whiz" effect from reading about the ways art and science are connecting these days, check out the schedule below. More information about each workshop, and any that may be added, is at this Workshop link at Maker Faire RI. You can sign up for them there as well. Events are free, although some have a materials fee if you make something.
I asked Brian Jepson and Kipp Bradford, a couple of the folks behind Maker Faire RI, what they were most looking forward to about it.
Kipp is "excited to help organize an event that brings together such a diverse group of innovators." Brian, a cornerstone of AS220's geekery, added, "I'm looking forward to what happens after the event as much as during it." They're seeding the art spirit.
Saturday, the Iron Chef metal sculpture competition and fundraiser at the Steel Yard, postponed by last Saturday's rain will try again. Then, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday and extending through WaterFire until 10 p.m., makers, inventors and artists will exhibit their creations at Sovereign Plaza at the intersection of Westminster and Weybosset Streets.
Maker Faire RI scheduleTuesday, September 15
5:30 - 7:15p.m.
RISCA: Grants for Makers
Cristina DiChiera -- Room A (Slater Mill Main Hall)
5:30 - 9:15p.m.
AS220 Labs' Nomadic Fab Lab
Shawn Wallace -- Room B (Slater Mill Conference Room)Wednesday, September 16
5:30 - 7:15p.m.
Glass Torchwork is Accessible!
Jenine Bressner -- Slater Mill
Make Your Own Wooden Thumb Drive Housing
Asher Dunn -- Room B (Slater Mill Conference Room)
7:30 - 9:15p.m.
An Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARToolKit
Duke Atkinson, Sean Galloway, Keith Simmons -- Room A (Slater Mill Main Hall)Thursday, September 17
4:00 - 6:00p.m.
CNC Routing @ Keeseh
-- Keeseh
5:30 - 7:15p.m.
Circuit Bending Workshop
Jimmie P. Rodgers -- Room A (Slater Mill Main Hall)
5:30 - 9:15p.m.
Making Cool Things With Microcontrollers
Mitch Altman -- Room A (Slater Mill Main Hall)
7:30 - 9:15p.m.
Atari Punk Console Workshop
Jimmie P. Rodgers -- Room A (Slater Mill Main Hall)September 18:
Maker Meetup
FREE! At the Wolcott St. Eco Office, Rhode Island's only Net-Zero OfficeSeptember 19:
1- 5 p.m. Iron Chef at The Steel Yard - NEW DATE
-- 27 Sims Avenue, Providence, RI 02909
Maker Faire RI at Waterfire
FREE! Makers, Inventors, Artists showcase cool stuff they've made. Art, craft, food, kits, and entertainment at Waterfire in Providence! Come meet your makers.
