This year will mark the first for the Ozarks Mini Maker Faire. The Faire will be located at the Expo Center in Springfield, Missouri, this weekend on August 29. The Ozarks, an area spreading across southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, has so much diversity to offer, this Faire should be quite interesting.
Here’s a peek at three of the displays that will surely be drawing a crowd.
The Ozarks Fire Toad
It isn’t often that us editors get to join a Maker Faire as an exhibitor. I wanted to make sure that the Maker Faire that was in my home town had some fun fire sculpture (my favorite of any Faire). The Ozarks are riddled with national forests, so I decided that a toad would be the perfect subject for my flame art. I constructed this toad from scrap steel, a pogo stick, the axle of a little red wagon, and tons of used bicycle tires. The fire system uses a tank of propane for fuel and has a button that people can push to emit a plume of fire. A typical burst is about 2 feet wide and if I really push the system I can get a column of fire nearly 10 feet tall!
This would have been an incredibly time consuming process and if it wasn’t for the help of Ryan Fitzpatrick, I doubt I would have gotten it done in time for the Faire.
Exploring Architecture in Virtual Reality with Drury University
David Beach and his students will be showing off the incredible technilogical ways that architects are exploring their designs. They’ll have simulations running in virtual reality using the Oculus Rift as well as 3D printed visualizations for people to check out. The students will be explaining how they go from a concept to a virtual construction and how this helps them with architectural design.
Making Paper from Invasive Weeds
The “MAKER” Intern Team will work together to perform/present 4′×8′ sheets of paper made from agri-waste fibers captured locally. The team has been brought together by environmental paper artist Shirah Miriam “Mimi” Aumann, and is made up of local artist interns practicing the ancient tradition of making paper by hand. You’ll be able to watch as they go through the process of creating these massive sheets of paper from weeds.
The show begins at 10:00 AM and you can cut down your time in line considerably by buying tickets in advance. For more information on speakers and what you’ll see, check out the site for the Ozarks Mini Maker Faire.
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