Showcasing innovation and creativity on a grand scale, Maker Faire Milwaukee returns to the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center, Sept. 23-24. The largest free Maker Faire in the United States, Maker Faire Milwaukee is produced and cohosted by Milwaukee Makerspace and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum under a license from Maker Media and features creations from a diverse group of inventors, crafters, tech enthusiasts and hobbyists. Conducted in more than 40 countries around the world, Maker Faires are credited with helping to propel the global Maker Movement. Off the Cuff spoke with Milwaukee Makerspace Communications Director and Maker Faire Milwaukee Producer Pete Prodoehl to learn more about the origins of Maker Faire Milwaukee, the importance of Maker Faires and makerspaces, and what visitors can expect from this year’s event.
How did Maker Faire Milwaukee originally come to fruition?
The folks at Milwaukee Makerspace wanted to do a small Maker Faire in Milwaukee and they got in touch with Maker Media, Inc., who has the license for the event. They couldn’t quite get everything organized quickly enough so they held a maker fest which is kind of a generic version of a Maker Faire and it was held at the Milwaukee Makerspace in 2013. A little while after that, the people from Betty Brinn Children’s Museum met with Milwaukee Makerspace and said, “Hey we loved your event. We want to do a full-fledged Maker Faire. We want to do a big event and we want to do it at State Fair Park.” The first one was held in 2014 and it was a pretty big success and each year has been getting bigger and bigger.
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For those who are unfamiliar, how would describe a Maker Faire and what is the mission of the event?
We call it part science fair, part county fair. If you’ve been to a science fair, its things that people have made, there’s experimental stuff, new ideas and people learning things. A county fair involves a lot of people coming together for attractions and events. We also call it the greatest show and tell on Earth. We’ve had people build Tesla coils, we have people who build props and electronic devices and electric vehicles. One person had a motorcycle and didn’t like buying gas, so he said “I’m going to convert it to electric.” So, he tore it apart, rebuilt it with an electric motor and made an electric motorcycle. And this was four years ago, when there weren’t many you could buy. So, a lot of times people make things you can’t really purchase and it covers everything from arts and crafts, to jewelry, to people doing woodworking and welding. We also have a group that is across the nation that take kids power wheels cars and they rebuild them and soup them up to run at 36 volts and it can get up to 20 miles an hour and they’ll race them.
Are there activities for kids?
There’s lots of people to talk to, but there are also hands-on activities. We do a hands-on workshop where they get to build their own car with all the raw materials and then adults help them learn how to use a hammer and adjust the weight and wheels. There will be arts and crafts and a rocket activity where kids get to launch these little rockets into the air with air pump. And there will be workshops for adults and kids.
Why are makerspaces important for children and young people?
It’s certainly a new word for an old thing. In the old days we had shop classes and a lot of that went away, but what it really does is it opens it up to kids who aren’t into the standard practice of learning like with lectures and books—it’s hands on. And the thing is we want to teach kids that it’s OK to fail, because that’s part of the learning process. If you don’t get things right the first time, you try again and again. It’s amazing that kids will come in with a parent or guardian and we’re surprised to learn that some adults don’t even know how to use a tape measurer. Over the years, the skills that people used to have are getting lost, and I think that makerspaces are a way of bringing those skills back.
To learn more about Maker Faire Milwaukee visit milwaukee.makerfaire.com.
