The lusciously vegetated rolling hills and mountains stretching over the southern half of Missouri and northern end of Arkansas are called “the Ozarks.” This area is riddled with national forests, scenic water ways, more caves than you can imagine. It is absolutely gorgeous and it is where I call home.
Any time the Ozarks are mentioned, images of barefoot hillbillies, like the Clampetts, often jump to mind. While I do personally enjoy the shoeless life when possible, the uneducated and socially stunted stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. However, that old hillbilly tendency to cobble things together and “make do with what you’ve got” has contributed to creating some of the most interesting Makers I’ve ever seen.
The Ozarks host nationally acclaimed art museums, universities and more. Not to mention fun local sites like the biggest Bass Pro shops and museums, the Silver Dollar City theme park, and Branson Missouri (often called a “wholesome Las Vegas”). Celebration of hard work and handcrafted goods has been strong in the Ozarks for many years, with multiple festivals each year for many aspects of our local skilled workers and artists.
Now, with our very first Mini Maker Faire coming, we’re finding that our community of high-tech Makers is much bigger than even we thought!
We’re currently looking for even more participants in the Ozarks Mini Maker Faire, being held in Springfield, Missouri on August 29th.
subjects we’re interested in having:
- Student projects
- Robotics
- Drones
- Arduino projects
- Raspberry Pi
- Conductive materials projects
- Kit makers
- Interactive art projects
- 3D printers and CNC mills
- Textile arts and crafts
- E-textiles
- Home energy monitoring
- Rockets and R/C toys
- Sustainability & green tech
- Radios, vintage computers and game systems
- Electronics
- Electric vehicles
- Science, biology/biotech, and chemistry projects
- Puppets, kites, and other whimsical creations
- Bicycles
- Large-scale art
- Shelter (tents, domes, etc.)
- Music performances and participation
- Unusual tools or machines
- How to fix things or take them apart (vacuums, clocks, washing machines, etc.)
- Digital fabrication
- 3D printing
- Virtual reality
If you or anyone you know is involved with these things, get signed up as soon as possible!
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