Maker Faire Somerville

Well… THAT was fun.

smythk — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:45:21 +0000

Whew! What a crazy fun day in Union Square at the Somerville Mini-Maker Faire! Pictures are truly worth very many words, so here are some highlights.

(See full-size versions of these and more photos on the Somerville Mini-Maker Faire Flickr page.)

The Make: Magazine booth, heralding people into the Mini-Maker Faire!
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Arcbotics’ adorable “Hexy” robots on display.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Soldering with SparkFun Electronics.
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Fairegoers creating their own stop-motion animations with Hannah Rossi.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

A young maker/roadie checking out “Bait”, an art car created by Blake Courtney.
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Laser-cut spider and eggs.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Gorgeous laser-cut sphere.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons)

Shiny! At the CEMI Electronic Media booth.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Robot’s-eye view from Dan Lander’s Node.js robot tank.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons.)

Fun for kids of all ages at the Mineways booth!
(Photo courtesy of Eric Haines)

Maggie McFee showing off the teapot design created using the Mineways program, and printed at her 3-D Makerbot booth (photo courtesy of Eric Haines).

DIY Hacker Junk Mosaics workshop run by Melissa Glick (click on the photo to link to her site).

Hacker Junk Mosaic by Melissa Glick.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons. Click on the photo to link to her site.)

Jason Rossitto showing off his trebuchet.
(Photo courtesy of Keith Simmons)

Huge thanks from the Artisan’s Asylum and the Somerville Arts Council to all of our volunteers, venders, workshop organizers, sponsors, and, most of all, to everyone who came out and packed the square for over four solid hours of DIY maker greatness!

Hope to see you next year! In the meantime… go make something!

Maker Highlight: Stuff and Things!

smythk — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:59:51 +0000

Many of tomorrow’s maker booths will have delightful souvenirs and keepsakes you can purchase to take your own little slice of maker-y goodness home with you! Here are some enticing examples…

3-D-printed dohickies from CarryTheWhat Replications:

Original artwork, prints, and cards from Imaginary Cartography:

A macro camera lens for your cell phone from Easy-Macro:

Wallets, wall letters, canvas pieces, rings, necklaces, earrings, pins, bracelets, cufflinks, photo frames, and purses from the maker of Tracimoc:

And if that’s not enough to lure you, our makers will also have for sale:

Cameras, projectors, and multitouch frames from the makers of Mesa Mundi,

Animated LED shadowboxes from the maker of The Lightning Tree,

Electronics kits from the makers of wiblocks and iblocks,

and

Small cast items from the maker of Lynwood Designs

See you at the Faire!

Maker Highlight: Rideable Art

smythk — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:31:08 +0000

We like all kinds of art here at the Artisan’s Asylum. You might even say we’re a bit crazy for it (har har).

Lately we’ve been especially infatuated with rideable art, and Saturday’s Mini-Maker Faire will feature a number of rideable projects, including Dan Lander’s Node.js wifi-extending robot, Adam Bercu’s all-electric motorcycle, Jeff DelPapa’s reclining Frankenbikes, Paul Carson’s bicycles, Blake Courtney’s art cars aaand… a Giant Baby Carriage.

So come on by and check them out… you may even get a lift.

Node.js robot

Adam’s EV motorcycle parked at a public charging station.

The front half of “Frankenbike”

One of Paul’s elegant bikes.

Art car: “Bait”

: Art car: “Fluffer”

and…

A giant, pedal-powered baby carriage.

Fluffer and the baby carriage say hello to each other at this year’s Burningman.

Maker Highlight: SparkFun Electronics

smythk — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:47:26 +0000

This Saturday in Union Square, SparkFun Electronics will have 20-30 soldering stations for Faire attendees to learn how to solder their own electronics (kids too!). A suggested donation of $10-20 gets you a take-home Weevil Eyes, Big Times, or Simons kit that the booth staff will show you how to assemble.

SparkFun Electronics will be bringing Engineer Jim Lindblom and Educational Outreach Coordinator Lindsay Craig to run a hands-on soldering workshop at the Somerville Mini-Maker Faire this Saturday. This Boulder, CO-based biz has been attending Maker Faires nationwide since 2008, taking hundreds of makers-to-be through their first steps into the wild world of building their own electronics!

SparkFun sees Artisan’s Asylum and other Hackerspaces as a wonderful way for hobbyists and the community to fill in the gaps that contemporary schools often miss in technology education. We are so excited for their presence at our Faire, and their dedication to helping us in our mission.

Call for Makers

schlesingerj — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:36:16 +0000

Artisans Asylum, the City of Somerville, and the Somerville Arts Council are hosting the first Somerville Mini Maker Faire in Somerville’s Union Square (near Boston), Saturday October 13th 3-7pm, and we’re looking for makers!

To make this a success we need YOU, the makers of the area, to come and show off all your cool stuff! If you’ve got anything you think the greater world of both makers and non-makers might enjoy, this is the place to show it off.

Tell you friends, members, spread the word! The more the merrier, even if its just to stop by and see what the greater New England area had drummed up.

Answer the Call Here (deadline is September 30th):

Mini Maker Faire coming to Somerville!

schlesingerj — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 03:11:31 +0000

Maker Faire Somerville is October 13th, 3-7pm in Somerville’s Union Square, stay tuned for more details and a Call for Makers.