Hello everyone,
Maker Faire Wayne County is a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.
The Daily Record said it best: “Dubbed the ‘Greatest Show and Tell on Earth’; over 1,200 people flocked to the third annual faire at the University of Akron Wayne College the summer before last. It was a fresh experience with favorite makers from previous years along with new makers and new things to see and do.
Maker Faire Shanghai Was a Blast!
It’s great to see the maker community activated and inspired by a Maker Faire—and that is just what recently happened in Shanghai. Over 4,000 attendees, guests, sponsors, educators and students safely gathered at Tongji University College of Design and Innovation for two days of Maker Faire magic! Click here to learn more.
We are proud to showcase Ohio makers who participated in Maker Faire Wayne County. One of these peoples is Nancy Franck, designer/creator of N.E.wear upcycled jewelry. Materials include acrylic paint skins, flower petals and leaves, used guitar strings, bicycle spokes, insect wings, and Kumihimo.
A native-born Canadian, Nancy focuses on re-use and keeping discarded materials out of the landfill. Anything that crosses her path can be an inspiration to keep nature alive in wearable art.
A self-taught jewelry artist, Nancy’s first piece was as a result of using dried paint from the bottom of a paper cup: acrylic paint skins. She uses elements in nature such as insect wings, flower petals, and leaves. She uses discarded parts like bicycle spokes, guitar strings, T-shirts, and blown light bulbs. She wanted a new twist on braiding and adopted the ancient technique of Kumihimo.
Using her own initial and her grandson Ethan’s initial, N.E.wear (pronounced “anywhere”) was born. This perfectly described the concept Nancy wanted to convey; jewelry that could be worn anytime – anywhere. Check-out her creations on her N.E.wear Facebook page here.
Another person who participated in Maker Faire Wayne County is Pete. He has been in the oil well business for over 37 years. A couple of his buddies have hit & miss engines and encouraged him to build miniatures of them. Pete has built wooden & reed miniature hit & miss engines. He has about 100 of them, displaying and selling them at shows.
Pete made miniatures such as drilling rigs, pump jacks, power houses, old hit & miss engines, and most anything that you see in an oil field. They are powered with 2″ electric motors. Pete also remodeled a trailer especially for the purpose. It has swing-out sides on both sides, the back doors open up, and uses electric to run 2″ motors that drive the miniatures.
Rounding out our participating makers are students from Triway Junior High School. A few years ago, the school’s library became a STEAM lab, while books and other media center materials were moved to a nearby classroom. The newly renovated space encompasses a laser printer and two 3-D printers, one of them made by a team of Triway teachers in a Schantz MakerSpace workshop.
At Wayne County Maker Faire, students brought inventions and products from all of their STEAM classes. Faire attendees were fascinated with the robots and motorized vehicles that were brought. Students at the faire talked about the many courses offered at Triway, including robotics, design and model courses, art classes, medical detectives, coding, robotics, drones, reverse engineering, and, of course, art and band in the mix!
If you would like to know more about Nancy’s upcycled jewelry, Pete’s miniature oil machinery, or Triway Junior High School’s STEAM program, please reply to this email!
Until next week,
Tom