Calling all Daleks! The fourth annual Maker Faire Milwaukee needs you! One of the many fun happenings taking place this weekend, September 23–24 at the Wisconsin State Fair Park, is an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Daleks. Faire organizer Pete Prodoehl fills us in on the details:

We’ve got “real” Daleks lined up from Dalek Asylum Milwaukee (a group that works within the Milwaukee Makerspace) and we’ve got Daleks coming in from around the Midwest to join us. Since we may still come up a little short, we’ve enlisted the help of our local cosplay community to help create costumes people can wear, and make the day of the event, to help increase our numbers. (Yes, people dressed in Dalek costumes do count!) We’ve had a lot of fun being part of the “Dalek Dream Team” trying to assemble as many Daleks as we can. We might also be joined by a TARDIS, some Time Lords and Oswin Oswald.

Got a Dalek? Bring it! Wanna dress up as a Dalek? Come on out and build a costume! And if being part of such an auspicious undertaking doesn’t get you out the door, maybe the other 240 maker exhibits, workshops, presentations, and performances will. Last year, Maker Faire Milwaukee drew an impressive 45,000 attendees!

Among the other Faire offerings, Prodoehl shares:

We’ve also expanded our Dark Room Lounge offerings this year and will have more exhibits, activities, and shows in there, including some additions to our popular Knight versus Tesla Coils show, and we’ve got a Graphical Waterfall exhibit from Pevnick Design, a Milwaukee company who has installed their work around the world, but hasn’t been seen much in their own hometown.

We’re also seeing a lot more schools and young makers involved, with large projects they’ve been building at school. Education is definitely a big theme. We’ve more than doubled our Field Trip Friday efforts, and our Making in Education Conference on Saturday has seen a lot of interest from educators in the area.

https://vimeo.com/140744571

Maker Spotlights

In the lead-up to the Faire, Prodoehl has been running a series of Maker Spotlights on our site, showcasing a number of interesting makers that will be exhibiting this year. Check them out here and follow the links for more details on each maker.

Mark Rehorst, custom 3D printers

Bryan Cera, robotics, DIY electronics, digital fabrication, custom ceramics 3D printer

Daniel Zimmerman, DIY electronics, programming, automated charcoal grill 

Sam Laturi, metalworking 

The Kratz-Gullickson Family, traditional DIY, special effects, making for social good

Elizabeth Kruger, cosplayer

Makers Galore

In addition to the makers that Prodoehl profiled, there’s a vast array of various types of makers on tap for this weekend. Whatever your area of interest, be it art, high tech, food, or traditional crafts, so many shades of creativity will be represented that you’re guaranteed to leave inspired. Here are a handful more, showing the diversity just in forms of maker-made art.

Relief Block Printmaking

Chad Tuura creates traditional linoleum/wood block prints. His work is inspired by either nature and/or pop-culture. The antiquated technique, combined with content that reflects today’s culture, creates a unique mix of past and present generations.

Lego Fantasy Botanicals

A member of the Wisconsin Lego Users Group, Barbara Hoel’s fantasy landscape art works are made entirely of Lego parts not normally used in Lego landscapes and are designed for display under black light.

Milwaukee Puppet Theater

Meet Ryan Lowe and his gang of characters — unique puppets each with their own personalities and quirks. Families can create their own puppet shows and watch the puppet master at work as he continues to create.

Light-Painting Photo Booth

Join maker Jess Holz and make a light painting, viewable in realtime, using a variety of light-producing objects, such as fiber optics and smart LEDs. Paintings will be uploaded to Instagram.

Fiber Art Guilds

Fiber Art Guild members and fiber artists from Wisconsin and Northern Illinois will demonstrate needlepoint, embroidery, beading, smocking, quilting, knitting, tatting, and crochet throughout the event.

Soul Spin: Spin Art MKE

Join maker Justin Stone to create your very own spin art! By dripping multiple colors of paint onto a spinning canvas/vinyl record, an array of beautiful designs are created, for a one-of-a-kind piece of art to take home with you.

For all the information you need to join the community at this year’s Maker Faire Milwaukee, head to the site!