Interview with Hamilton Mini Maker Faire organizers
The first ever Hamilton Mini Maker Faire (@hammercitymaker) event is happening on Sunday June 21st! Check out the interview below with the organizers of the event.
What is a Mini Maker Faire?
Maker Faire is part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new! It’s considered the biggest show (and tell) on earth – a venue for tech enthusiasts, crafters, tinkerers, artists, engineers, and all other sorts of “makers” to showcase and share what they do, how they do it, and what they’ve learned in the process.
How did the Mini Maker Faire movement get started?
Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to “celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset”. The first Maker Faire was held on April 22 – 23 2006, at the San Mateo County Event Center. It included six exposition and workshop pavilions, a 5-acre outdoor midway, over 100 exhibiting makers, hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and DIY competitions.
When and where is the Hamilton Mini Maker Faire?
This coming Father’s Day! Sunday, June 21st from 11am – 5pm at the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology: 900 Woodward Ave, Hamilton
Who will be presenting at the Hamilton Mini Maker Faire?
We have a wide variety of individual makers and community organizations including prop-builders, fire artists, innovation leaders, maker space directors, home furnishing designers, model boat builders, robot engineers, and more! These include local artist Steve Mazza who will share his vision for the future of sculpture, Lita Barrie the Director of the new Maker Space at Hamilton Public Library, and an expert on 3D printed prototypes, Professor Robert Gerritsen from Mohawk College.
Why should people attend the Hamilton Mini Maker Faire?
This is a fun, hands-on opportunity to connect ideas and materials, network with other people, and see what Hamilton has been making! Not only is it a great day out for all ages, but by participating in this creative culture you help re-invigorate innovation in our community. We want people to know that Making is accessible to everyone – you don’t have to be a master or an expert, you just need a little imagination!
Why is a Mini Maker Faire important to Hamilton?
Hamilton is in a unique position to host a Faire because of its rich history of ingenuity and industry which now seems to be taking off into a culture of creativity. By helping connect and recognize Hamilton’s growing DIY maker community, we hope to strengthen the ties between the Hamilton’s traditional industry with the burgeoning art scene, and the simplest craft forms with high-end technology. The Faire could light a spark that will propel our next start-up business, or it could be just give a bunch of people ideas for new hobbies. Either way, it’s valuable!
Who is organizing the Hamilton Mini Maker Faire?
We are the Hammer City Makers Community Organization: a crazy group of local hackers, artists, tinkerers, crafters, and engineers who love Hamilton! We are also fortunate to be collaborating with and hosted by the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology.
The maker community around the world seems to have exploded over the last 5 years. Why do you think this is? Where do you think it’s going next?
With the advent of the digital age, it seems we have become more connected in some ways, and possibly more disconnected from the physical environment around us. Now we see a shift from the one side of the pendulum towards a middle ground and we are using the technology and advancements of the last decades in new ways while also coming back to the traditional crafts and trades.
The explosion of social media in the last five years has opened up new ways for hobbyists to connect with one another, so now instead of working alone, you can share your passion with the whole world. It’s a way for diverse groups of people to connect on something that we all have in common as humans: the desire to create.
Finally, it’s never been easier to become a maker. You can learn how to make absolutely anything through YouTube! We’re really excited to about the next maker revolution that technology is bringing. Robert Gerritsen from Mohawk College’s new additive fabrication lab will give a talk about 3D printing in metal. We’re not far from being able to share and remix physical creations like we do currently with online music.
What do you think motivates individual makers, and maker communities more generally speaking?
Humans are born makers – give a kid playdough, building blocks, or paint and they express themselves through building. As we get older, it can be hard to find the time and space to be creative – we tend to give up on ourselves after a point. Collaborating with others can help us feel safe in learning new activities, offer encouragement, and generally put us back in touch with our curious, expressive cores.
How can a maker community help Hamilton? The city is experiencing a rejuvenation of sorts, but we still have a gap in terms of ‘quality jobs’ left over from manufacturing’s decline. Could a maker community help with this in particular?
Certainly Maker Spaces, and the connections formed there are great opportunities to link innovators with ideas. Some of those connections will form the bases of new companies, others may motivate people to retrain themselves for new opportunities. I don’t want to minimize the struggle that many face in Hamilton, but when you go to the Faire and see the giant robots made by High School kids, and you learn how building them is getting easier and more accessible every year, it makes you feel really hopeful about the future.
What does Hamilton need to do to build a bigger maker community?
Hamilton has this strong undercurrent of solidarity that fits in really well with the Maker ethos. It’s amazing how many people get excited when we talk about hosting Hamilton’s first Maker Faire. I think it’s only a matter of time before the community explodes, but we can help push it along.
We need to keep doing what we’re doing. We need to build more connections between industry and artists. We need to introduce Hamiltonian’s to the Maker Spaces and other resources that are popping up all over. And we need to get everyone out to the Faire so we can recognize our makers and show newcomers how they can join in the fun.
Makerspaces seem to be a key component of maker communities. Right now the only maker space I’m aware of in Hamilton is ThinkHaus. Do you think Hamilton can support more makerspaces, and what should those look like?
There are others that are less official (i.e. space place) but there are also spaces like Needlework, The Hamilton Tool Library, local knitting groups that meet in coffee shops, Center 3, and Factory Media Centre.
Yes the more spaces the better! As more urban density occurs (i.e. condos) people need these kinds of spaces to create community – maybe your thing isn’t yoga but its sewing so you can meet a whole group of people that like to sew, maybe you’re a visual artist who wants to try incorporating laser work – Maker Spaces are all about that. More networking between them would be good too – hopefully Hammer City Makers can help that process.
How can the community in Hamilton help you make the Mini Maker Faire a success?
We are looking for volunteers to help at the faire, and people to show off what they are working on (individuals and groups). Just getting the word out is helpful, so please connect and share with us through Twitter and Facebook. Also, while it doesn’t take very much money to make a Maker Faire, it does take a bit, so donations are welcome (check out website pay pal :). Finally We encourage everyone to attend the Faire on June 21. This is a great opportunity for makers, artists, hobbyists or people who are just curious to learn new things, meet other makers, and have some fun!
