The weather is getting warmer and spring is in the air. That means it’s almost time to celebrate all of the great engineers, artists, scientists and crafters that Providence has to offer.
The eleventh annual Providence Mini Maker Faire is only a few short months away and will be held on June 8-9 as a part of PVDFest, which is the city’s signature annual arts festival.
Last year, some of the faire’s featured exhibits included a steel yard with blacksmithing and ceramic demos; the Gather Glass Blowing Studio did glassmaking live; Dassault Systèmes set up an engineering area and Rhode Island Virtual Reality set up a booth.
“I was looking at these faires and thinking, 'we should have this in Rhode Island.'”
The Ocean State Maker Mill also brought a giant bubble foam making machine and an air cannon with a blast that could almost knock a person over. There were many more exhibits and most are expected to return.
The Providence Mini Maker Faire was brought to the Ocean State by Providence Geeks co-founder Brian Jepson, who had attended other maker faires in different states.
“I loved the maker faire and some of my Rhode Island friends would join me at the maker faire in the Bay area or the maker faire in Austin,” said Jepson. “I was looking at these faires and thinking, 'We should have this in Rhode Island.'”
The maker faire was started by O'Reilly Media, a publishing company that Jepson used to work for, and eventually spun out, along with Make Magazine, into Maker Media in 2013. It has grown rapidly since its inception in 2006, licensing its faire model out to other cities.
“They knew it had to grow,” said Jepson. “What better way to pilot an independent maker faire model than with someone who works for the company and was willing to run the event in their spare time?"
Along with his friend Kipp Bradford, Jepson helped set up the first one at Providence WaterFire in 2009. But after a few years, Bradford stepped down, leaving Jepson in search for a new partner.
Seeing natural synergies with AS220, an arts and maker complex in the city, Jepson partnered with the organization and made the Providence Maker Faire a part of AS220 Foo Fest.
A few years ago, the faire evolved once again when Jepson began working with the City of Providence and their big arts festival PVDFest. The partnership is entering its third year and Jepson has been very pleased with the experience, and is expecting another great run.
The call for makers for this year’s faire is officially open, with the first round of applications due April 26 and the second round of applications due May 17. Others interested in getting involved can also sign up to volunteer.
