New members interested in programming and uC (micro controller) development will receive a development board kit. For more info, check the Thursday Tech Workshop page

I've added a video of one of the first flights of the hexacopter I've built.

We had a good turnout last night and accomplished quite a bit. The south wall of the woodshop and the metal shop were almost complete when I left.

Are you a Lawrence Creates Makerspace member maker, artist, baker? Do you have a desire to create to help your neighbors, the world? Then please join us as we celebrate this holiday season of peace and joy at Lawrence Creates on December 12-13, 2014.

The First Annual Holiday Maker Market
Friday, December 12th, 4:00-9:00pm and
Saturday, December 13th, 8:00am-Noon
At Lawrence Creates Makerspace and Center for Innovation
512 E. 9th Street (9th & NJ)
in Lawrence Kansas

This is a free event! There will be live music, holiday shopping, games for the kids, and much more!

If you have something you make or create, want to sell it to the community and it would serve as a nice gift, this is a great opportunity for you!

There's only a $10 entry fee for both days and 20% of your proceeds help to fund our fabulous member-run and operated Lawrence Creates Makerspace.

Please let us know if you are interested by responding to lesaweller@gmail.com to sign up and get more information.

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

August Final Friday Lawrence Art Party features music by Jime and Aaron, acoustic duo. There will be grilled sausages from Fritz’s in KC, sculptures, paintings, demos by Lawrence Creates Makerspace Members, and more!

We will be displaying works by
Suzanne Peters Ashley, Fabric Artist
Rodolfo Parisi, Vidographer
Clifton Rendón, Photographer
Valerie Ford, Textile Artist
Frank Shopen, Sculptor
Garret Tufte, Innovator & Artist
Kassidee Quaranta, Artist
Maria Lis Cabriza, Oil Painter
Lesa Weller, Multimedia Artist

Friday, August 29at 5:30pm - 10:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/816254891727883/

Thank you Tabatha Mills and Channel 6 for coming to the Lawrence Creates Makerspace to shoot this news spot on the upcoming Confabularryum. The Makerspace will hold several Maker demos and co--founder Barbara Kerr will give a great presentation on creativity!

There will also be Maker groups there from KC. Makerspace member and and 3D printing and screen printing instructor Tim Middleton will be there representing the Science City Maker Studio, where he teaches kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRQNaZeJpo

Donations Requested:

We need equipment donations, new or used. Can you help? Donations are eligible for tax deductions. Top priorities:

- #1 - an urgent need! A large exhaust fan or whole house fan, to exhaust hot air from near the ceiling.

- #2 - this would make our space so much more comfortable! A used central AC system, so we can air condition our offices and training rooms.

- Shop vacs to use for dust collection

- A laser cutter.

Please send an email to kirkendall1@gmail.com if you can help.

• Power plug relay
• Plexiglass door
• Full Spectrum Light Fixtures and lights
• Small plants
• Small monitor like a car TV
• Talipia (fish)
• Cold Hard Cash

If you do not have any of the requested supplies, money, or know how, come and help anyway! Text me at 785-979-3800.

Since 2003 I have been working with adolescent males that have been placed out of home at the O'Connell Youth Ranch. At 33 years of age, I have essentially spent my late adolescence and early adulthood operating within a group home setting and, as my wife could tell you, have assimilated some of the oppositional behaviors that are present in the home. Through my years at the Ranch, I have witnessed countless young men 'waste' their time with a 'fake-it-till-you-make-it' attitude that only serves to reify their disillusionment with the justice system and the adult world. Sadly, only a small percentage of youth break that cycle and change their developmental trajectory. It is my job as staff to challenge those perceptions and to reveal to them a new and exciting world different from the one they have created in their minds.
As an artist, I have experienced the power of art as a vehicle for learning, healing and validation and I wanted to make available those experiences to our youth in placement. So, in March of 2012 I began to concoct an art project specifically for our young men to exercise control over their environment as well as create a connection with the Lawrence community. What better way to express these sentiments but through the creation of a mural. Below is a link to the mural website. It is still under construction, and moving at a snail's pace, but Edo wasn't built in a day right?

A ragtag group of neuropsychology enthusiasts, electronics geeks, and software developers began meeting six months ago to develop a way of making creative consciousness visible -- and beautiful. Led by Matt Walsh, Barbara Kerr, and Joe Kearnes, the group decided to locate cheap, accurate EEG headsets; to develop software to translate brainwaves into light and sound; and to create protocols for helping people rapidly alter consciousness. We used standard procedures for adaptation, induction of busy, problem-solving consciousness (Beta) and relaxation (Alpha). The Holy Grail, however, was a protocol for visualizing a creative flow state characterized by combinations of Alpha, Beta, and bursts of Gamma -- high frequency, intense waves associated with Aha! experiences. Barb developed the protocols; Joe hacked the first primitive headsets we had; and Matt created the software. The result was the Brainflower: a gorgeous, kaleidoscopic projection of brainwaves in bright colors coded to the frequency and duration of various brain states. Since the beginning, we have created Brainflowers for hundreds of people who donned the headsets (now Neurosky EEG headbands) and gradually experienced a visualization of their most creative activity... and then saw the result in blazing color on the computer screen -- or projected on the walls of a building lining 9th Street. A crowd gathers every Final Friday to see their Brainflowers, and we have had many public presentations for libraries, secondary schools, and the general public. Come to Final Friday and see YOUR brain on Flow!

Josh was always interested in earth sciences -- especially volcanos. He just didn't know that you could make a career of it. In college, he was intending to eventually work for the space program and took physics and math -- but the prerequisites for engineering were not as interesting as he thought they would be . When he took classes in geology, however, he found himself fascinated -- he liked the materials and he liked the people he was working with. In one of the classes, he got to go to Hawaii and visit all the volcanos. Just before he got there, there had been a major sector collapse -- a big chunk of the island fell into the sea. So his advisor persuaded the authorities to allow the class right out onto the new flow. As the sun came up, a line of people led by a guy with a staff and long beard hiked over the flow, scooping up lava on their rockhammers. Josh bought in. UCDavis was buzzing with leading volcanologists at the time, so he continued his training there, then got his masters at New Mexico Tech. So how does a volcanologist end up in Kansas, at our Makerspace? He was studying Thermochronology and came to Kansas to get his Ph.D. He currently manages the Isotope Geochemistry Lab at KU. He came here because he wanted to use the woodshop... but his interests are broadening as he gains exposure to the interdisciplinary madness that is the Makerspace! We hope to see Josh in the near future leading geology expeditions in the Kaw Valley that will help us to see with our imaginations the glaciers, ancient rivers, and windstorms that shaped our region.

[This is the first cut of our submission for city funding, beginning next April. I hope you will find it informative and accurate. Lawrence Creates can be truly great, and here is why.]

That is the name of the organization. You might call it the program, as the application requires. I will skip the basics here, as they will be addressed in another section of the application. Here, I would like to explain just what it is that we do, and what we would like to do, and what we would like to continue to do. The biggest part of the place is the fact that it has the equipment and materials and the space to accommodate working adults in their endeavors. It has many sections: a woodshop, art and display gallery, design studio, and plenty of computers with the Adobe Cloud Suite, useful for anyone wanting to use Photoshop or Indesign. Useful for editing photos, making presentations, or designs.

So, it is essentially a workshop. The model is similar to that of a gym membership: the member, paying a simple fee of $20/month, is welcome to enter the workshop at any time, 24 hours a day, and pursue their projects. It is tech and practical and art oriented. Some similar makerspaces have tended to focus on one of the these aspects, and appeal to a small subset of the population. Most often this sort of thing happens in larger cities where the individual is one of many, who though having a specialized interest, find others as interested to justify a building devoted to them. We have a smaller community here, and it makes sense to combine these things. As a result, we have found that many interesting things happen when people of quite disparate creative talents get together over “beer and pizza”. Some of the most interesting ideas you've ever heard have come from this very space already. We have been in operation for the last year, with very little funding. All infrastructure improvements have come from the actions of the people who believe in the idea. Which makes us already one hell of a success story. We welcome anyone and everyone to see what we have made, out of pure guts and grease. The space was essentially empty when we arrived, but through the actions of our core members, we have made it into what is already possibly the most unique and varied venue in all of Kansas. We have a monthly showcase on Final Friday, and it has gotten better and better every month. In April, we had about 1000 visitors. We have already made our mark in East Lawrence, and the whole community supports what we do.

Many organizations have partnered with us for events: the Lawrence Public Library, the Social Service League, the Lawrence Art Guild, the Northeast Kansas Library System, and the Sustainability Action Network. And that is just so far. Hundreds of independent artists and craftsmen and entrepreneurs have come through our doors and found a home for an event or a project or to be members themselves. Lawrence Creates has become a home for many people who have few other places to pursue their creative needs. Because we are all-inclusive, inexpensive, and to be quite honest, absolutely, astonishingly brilliant. We have been attracting the best sort of attention for some time now. And all of it with only a modicum of marketing, outreach, and sales. Most of this comes from the fact that we are a “bottom-up” organization, that rarely gives orders to its members. Thus, people are only here when they want to be. This has its advantages and disadvantages. Namely, that it is quite enjoyable to be about with the members during our hours of interest. There is never a dull moment, and people get along, and things get done. And it allows people to pursue projects of their choosing, but which rarely happens to be marketing or outreach.

This is the most important way in which the funds we may receive from the city would go. The building, the organization absolutely needs someone or two, an employee, who is paid to be on the premises during business hours. To handle phone calls, to give guided tours of the workshops, keep an eye on individuals using the equipment, staff the art gallery, maintain the website, keep updated calendars, organize the members during events, and other duties. Ideally, we would like to hire two part-time positions, so that the person does not get burned out. Also, considering that most of the members have multiple jobs themselves, and the varied nature of the space itself, seems to imply that the person who would like to work there might have other pursuits.

Which brings me to the most important part of this letter. I implore you, sirs and madams, that the idea behind the organization of Lawrence Creates is that of an intrinsic good that meets the needs and wants of the community, in more ways than you could ever imagine. By these virtues:

* It provides a place for individuals to create what they wish: objects or contraptions or inventions made of wood, metal, plastic, glass. Any and all material that might be shaped or molded into something more refined. Objects of clay and stone and fabric, computer programs and algorithms, electrical devices, energy sources. Hypotheses and experimentation. All of these things may be pursued at the leisure of the member, and shall all, in there entirety, be supported by others, especially in the case of unique and innovative ideas. The grounds support collaboration, and the members foster and steward each others' projects. If for none other reason than simply providing the place for a creative individual to work, it stands to reason that this workshop ought to be publicly funded, and well-funded, considering the number of creative people in Lawrence.

*Not everyone has the finances to rent a studio and build a workshop of the highest caliber. It simply cannot be done by everyone. Just because one is not rich and lacking the resources does not mean they are not deserving of a place to exercise their intellect and creative prowess. This idea, in itself, the practical manifestation of a community workshop should be a point of pride in our community, in that we allow and support a shared space for people to better themselves and their city, through learning and practicing. In addition, those people who were once lacking the resources, need no longer be so, given the right materials and equipment and the space to engage themselves; with us, they can provide for themselves. Lawrence Creates provides this avenue to the community, a wholly different approach to self-actualization and creation. We provide 13 or more years of public education for the people of Kansas. We represent public application.

*We have massive potential, in general, here in Lawrence. We are a medium-sized town with a population of extremely educated and creative people, whose main wish is to do good by themselves and their community. We must foster that spirit. We have the funds available to pursue this act of ours, to put ourselves in a place few other, if any, cities in the U.S. are, or have been. It seems, in fact, a wonder that we have not done such already, though perhaps we have just been waiting for the right time. The 21st century is upon us. Do we want to pursue the same old tired policies that all the other cities in this country put on the hot seat? Do we really expect people to come from all over the world to see the new Arby's on 6th street? Or do we want to try a new direction? Put our money where our spirit is, and reap the rewards? The drive is already there. No need to force learning, but to fund application. If one would like to see money come to our town, more that is, this is the way to go as well. If the city puts their faith in this endeavor, and other endeavors that share the same spirit, people will come from far and wide to simply see what we have done. And more so, to come and stay, and contribute to what they see to be the good pursuit. Our Final Friday events have drawn thousands of people, and all with only the limited resources we've had previous. Guts and grease have brought us this far; blood, sweat, and tears spent to public utility, for the glory of our city.

At the precipice of a new awakening, the world knows naught what it has not seen. I warrant, it is our charge to display, to justify the growth so wished, to take the lessons of the past, applied to the future, by our own reasoned dedication, to take the reins active, and show the world what art in the 21st century really means.

Learn something new and have a great time next Saturday! Check out artist Sophia Compton's great class!

An artistic life may be as passionate and socially moving as a protest by the masses. - Lesa

From World Citizen Artists webpage:

(June 19, 2014) Paris, France–Artists and Artists’ communities are joining forces to raise awareness about global issues affecting the lives of many people in the world. “World Citizen Artists (WCA) is a global community of artists and creatives launching on 20th June, coinciding with World Refugee Day, to highlight the plight of refugees around the globe as the first UN World Day highlighted by the WCA. The launch is a call to visual artists, photographers, writers, film makers and musicians from all countries, backgrounds, ages, and genders to join the movement. It is also an invitation to art lovers and those who wish to support the aim of raising global awareness through art.

In addition to highlighting global issues, WCA intends to democratise art through social media by providing a platform for emerging artists to get their message across alongside established artists who wish to use their reputation to bring about positive change in the world. The WCA launch is welcomed by “Playing for Change” who have shown their support by offering their video “Clandestino” featuring Manu Chao to be shown on WCA’s website www.worldcitizenartists.org

WCA’s aim is to encourage people to engage in positive action to bring about a transformation that will improve the lives of those disadvantaged by poverty, climate change, political and social upheaval, lack of opportunity and prejudice. It will involve organising art projects, exhibitions, and competitions to highlight key issues and to support changes in the way individuals, groups, societies and nations go about addressing the collective challenges that exist all over the world. The pre-launch WCA membership consists of visual artists, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and creative thinkers.

WCA has attracted members such as Yosvany Terry, a famous saxophonist on the Jazz scene who has worked with major figures in every realm of Cuban music including pianists Chucho Valdes, and Frank Emilio and the celebrated nueva trova singer/guitarist Silvio Rodriguez. “ Playing for Change” is a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music, with similar aims to WCA. They have over 100 million followers worldwide.

WCA is actively working to find sponsors and raise funds in order to organise artistic events that highlight targeted global issues. The artist selection process will be based on criteria such as the strength of the message conveyed by the artwork and how likely it is to raise awareness about the topic. Similar selection criteria will be applied to other creative mediums, such as poetry, prose, music, film, installations. The proceeds from these events will be donated to NGO’s. Decisions about where to allocate funds raised will be made by voting members in the WCA Facebook Group.

WCA’s Founder, artist Valerie Won Lee explained the birth of the WCA concept; “It pained me to see so much suffering in the world and I wanted to do something about it by raising awareness through my art. But I am only one artist and couldn’t make much impact alone. I began trying to connect with other artists who believe that art can spread a message to raise awareness, encourage responsibility and motivate people to take action to bring about positive change. It took some time to find these fellow artists as they were scattered around. So I decided to build a community of like-minded people, who care enough about issues affecting many people’s lives”.

WCA has an online magazine on its website and a Facebook membership group where members can exchange ideas, get involved in discussions about world matters and debate how to use art and other creative media to raise awareness and bring about change at www.facebook.com/groups/arttakesover