The Fayetteville Public Library is hosting its second annual Maker Faire on Saturday. OAL’s Jack Travis sat down with Shelby Fleming, she’s the fabrications and robotics lab coordinator for the library, and she says the Maker Faire is actually an international event that they’ve brought to Northwest Arkansas.
Shelby Fleming: It's gonna culminate of over; we had 34 makers and vendors last year, and we have 65 this year. So we've almost doubled the amount of things that are going to happen during Maker Faire. And we've kind of blown it out of the water this year with some local artists making installation pieces that the community got to help build. And then we have a lot of just individuals that are interested in making giant light up installations, eight-foot tall, moving Ferris wheels, there's a giant four-foot marble maze, that's going to be there too. So there's just something for everyone. We also have some musicians that are gonna be playing on the gathering glade during the event. And then, if you want to dive deeper into learning about digital fabrication and art-making or learning about how maker spaces have really changed, how we perceive how to create things, there's going to be lectures on those things that are happening in the locker room. So it's gonna be an amazing day. I'm super excited and so, so humbled by all the creators that are willing to share their work with us as a community.
Jack Travis: Can you highlight some of those creators you're most excited to see this year?
SF: Yeah, I think there are three big ones that we actually reached out to the artists ahead of time to create interactive community-building experiences. So, one is artist Jason Jones. If you guys have seen painted mural robots around town, that's Jason Jones. He actually made an eight-foot-tall, giant cardboard robot-- I'm sure a lot of patrons have seen it over the last month and a half. And the community got to come in and build with Jason different accessories that went on to the robot. And then Fe Game Studios is another collaboration that we have for Maker Faire. They're actually taking Jason's robot CAD modeling it up and creating an almost Pokemon Go augmented reality experience where you get to go around the library, find the missing parts of the robot, come back to the robot, and it'll create an animation. So yeah, there's those large experiences. And then we also have Dandy Pants, who is a local artist, that makes giant rocking horses that are kind of neon. You might have seen him out of the few concerts or events. They are making us a giant bookworm bench that people can sit on and take photo ops. And the community actually gets to help paint them this coming weekend.
JT: So, there's been a lot of community involvement this year— You said that you doubled the amount of artists attending this year? Can you speak on that growth and what has allowed for that?
SF: Yeah, I think a lot of it is: we started early this year. So we started kind of starting to promote and looking at different artists and kind of advertising in May. So we got to earlier set on it this year. And then it also helped that, like, we started telling people and educating more on what is Maker Faire and who all can be involved in Maker Faire. Sometimes, the applications, because it's through Maker Faire, the branded website, can be intimidating. So it's more of like doing info sessions or talking to our patrons in person and encouraging them to apply. And when they had these crazy abstract ideas that didn't seem to fit the application, it was talking with them through how they would apply. And that, yes, they do fit into this category. So it's more of just encouraging people that might not have thought that their work could have been included before. So is a lot of community outreach. And then, just like trying to promote online as much as possible. And it's become a big word of mouth this year, too. I had a lot of makers come into my lab, and then they are talking to each other like, 'Oh, are you applying to Maker Faire?' 'Are you going to be involved?' And then another patron will be like, 'Well, I'm building this giant eight-foot Ferris wheel, and we're laser cutting it and everything.' And everyone's like, 'Wait, I need to get involved too.' Then there were a few patrons that didn't feel like they were quite ready for this year, but it got them thinking about next year. So I think we'll have an even bigger turnout next year.
JT: So, a lot of these conversations are happening in the innovation center?
SF: Oh yeah. The fabrication Robotics Lab has just become the hub for Maker Faire. There are a lot of projects that are being made in the fabrication and robotics lab that will be in Maker Faire. So, the eight-foot-tall Ferris wheel that I was talking about that will be a moving interactive piece where people can actually make their own figure that can ride the Ferris wheel. So, there's an interactive component to it. But all the parts were laser cut in our lab.
JT: Tell our listeners maybe a little bit about the innovation center just in case they don't know too much about this community resource.
SF: Yeah, so the Center for Innovation is located on the first floor of the Fayetteville Public Library. In our space, we have a full fabrication robotics lab that has 3D printing, resin printing, and lasers that cut and engrave different materials. We have large-format printing and heat pressing. Also, in our space, we have a full audio recording studio and a full green screen video studio, and patrons can take orientations on how the equipment operates before they book out the space themselves. We also have a full photography studio where people can rent out Canon cameras, different tripods, and backdrops. We have those available for rental. Right now, we're actually recording from our podcasting booth, that's located in our Mac lab. We also have a Mac lab with 12 computers that have the fullest Adobe Suite, post-editing software for audio and videos on there, and CAD modeling software. We also have a kind of virtual reality in the simulations lab. So, in the simulations lab, we have a car simulator, a truck driving simulator, an airplane simulator, and a red bird flight, to be specific. We have a lot of pilots that come in with their students, and they practice during bad weather days. And they can log their hours that way. We have a forklift simulator. And we also have two caterpillars that rotate out to different pieces of equipment. And right now, they're set up as a backhoe and an excavator. And then our VR lab has just switched out to workforce development. So people can earn certifications in HVAC, electrical, plumbing and solar. So there's a lot happening down here. And it's just one facet of the library that's just tremendously expanded with the new expansion.
JT: Absolutely. So, back to Maker Faire— You've mentioned a ton of collaboration that will take place between artists and attendees. What can attendees expect to take away from Maker Faire?
SF: Yeah, I think last year it inspired a lot of people to get involved. I think it also made people realize how many creatives are in the community. And I know last year, it kind of like promoted people to collaborate more community-wise. So Interform was here. They're a sewing sewing Fashion Organization located in in Springdale. So there was a lot of overlap between them and the fashion designers that we saw applied this year. One fashion designer, Braxton, is actually bringing 18 mannequins with his like, full lines that he created for NWA Fashion Week. So you're gonna see that at Maker Faire, and then just seeing so much community being built just in the maker community and making lifelong friendships. I mean, that was the thing that happened is a lot of these creators didn't know each other, and now they're just, you know, collaborating every day on different projects in the lab, or like the or the four-foot marble maze that's going to be on the Gathering Glade, they have never really collaborated before Maker Faire. And just pulling in some unique presenters to present on things that people haven't talked about. So one of them is how digital fabrication has shaped art making or how it's, you know, changed a few artists' careers. And then, in their lecture, they're going to talk about just how they're thinking about the tools of digital fabrication just as another means to create their art. It's not going to be based on, 'They're taking all of our jobs.' No, they're thinking about how it's all cohesively working together to help them create pieces that they never thought they could have made.
JT: It's a new tool in their toolbox?
SF: Yes, exactly. It's like adding another hammer in their eyes.
