Heartland Maker Fest was amazing!

Makerspace hosted our 6th annual Heartland Maker Fest on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Urbana’s Lincoln Square Mall and we had the most amazing time!  We were happy to provide the platform for 25 makers, 3 performers, a fashion show, and a swordfighting demonstration to showcase their incredible projects.

We had close to 1700 members of the community stop by and learn about medieval swordfighting, electronics, playing in a virtual terrain sandbox, various art forms, origami, reuse and recycle, braiding/tie-dyeing tshirts, game making, and many more activities.

Check out a full set of pictures on our Facebook page or on our Google album.

And!  Save the date for next year’s Fest which will be taking place on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 at Lincoln Square Mall.

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Heartland Maker Fest 2016 is here!

Heartland Maker Fest 2016 is here!

Join us on Saturday, Oct. 1, 9am-2pm at Urbana’s Lincoln Square Mall for a day of making!

Makerspace Urbana is excited to host our annual event, the Heartland Maker Fest, celebrating the amazing makers in Urbana-Champaign and the surrounding communities. We wish to:

  • Inspire By searching for creative and unique makers to exhibit at the festival, we hope attendees are inspired by the creative projects of others.
  • Empower By focusing on hands-on experiences, we hope people feel empowered to make their own projects a reality.
  • Connect By creating a free and open public festival, we hope to connect attendees to the local resources they need to help make their ideas come to life.

We’re enthusiastic to share the work of over 25 new and returning crafters, artists, tinkerers, engineers, inventors, and performers! Keep up-to-date as we announce new participating makers at our “Meet the Makers” page.

Thanks to our sponsors, especially the Urbana Public Arts Program, the event is free and open to all.

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Pi Day Celebration This Saturday!

Pi Day Celebration This Saturday!

Makerspace and Py-CU Present

Pi Day Celebration!
Saturday
3.14.15
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We will be holding a Pi Day Celebration this Saturday and we want to invite you all to attend!

We have the following super fun Pi Day activities planned:

  • Pie Contest
  • Bake Sale
  • Calculate Pi
  • Pi Swag
  • Lightning Talks
  • Python Programming Contest
  • Raspberry Pi Programming Workshop
  • Raffle for Raspberry Pi 2 Starter Kit

Come and celebrate this mathematical awesomeness!

All proceeds from the event event will be donated directly to Makerspace Urbana so we can continue providing services to the community!

Check out the full schedule and details at the event page.

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Open Hours New Year’s Day 1-4pm

Open Hours New Year’s Day 1-4pm

Thinking about making something in the New Year? Looking for ideas?

Stop by Makerspace Urbana on New Year’s Day!

We will not have our regular open hours on Wednesday (Dec. 31). The space will be open on New Year’s Day for working on projects, getting help with projects, giving help on projects, socializing, planning events, and just having a good time. The Shared Threads group also has open hours at this time so drop on in if that interests you as well.

No project needed! You can just come see the space if you’d like.

We’re located in the basement room #16 of the Independent Media Center in Urbana.

The space can be a little tricky to find but if you enter through the back bike project door (near the radio tower) and take your first left, we’re at the end of the hall. If the outside door is locked just call (816) 287-1717.

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Happy Holidays!

Makerspace Urbana is closed for the week!

There will be no Py-CU hack night on Tuesday (Dec. 23), no Wednesday Open Hours (Dec. 24), and no Saturday Open Hours (Dec. 27).

Our regularly scheduled programming will resume with Py-CU hack night on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

All the best and keep warm!

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Countdown to Heartland Maker Fest

Countdown to Heartland Maker Fest

Only days left until Heartland Maker Fest 2014!

The Heartland Maker Fest is Makerspace Urbana‘s annual event celebrating the amazing makers in Urbana-Champaign and the surrounding communities.

Come learn to spin your own yarn, create art from math, or perhaps design and print a 3D object. This year’s fest will be full of family friendly maker fun and showcase all kinds of local maker talent.

You will also have a chance to hear many speakers discussing the maker movement and DIY phenomena.

And thanks to River City Labs Makerspace we’re also planning a Quadcopter Obstacle Course with prizes! If you have a small quadcopter that can be flown safely indoors, bring it!

This year’s Fest will be be held on Saturday, October 18 from 10am to 4pm at the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana, Illinois.

Interested in volunteering at the fest? Sign up here. We need you!

For more information, check out our
Website: www.heartlandmakerfest.org
Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/heartlandmf
or like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandmakerfest

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Central Illinois Day of the Girl Rally

Central Illinois Day of the Girl Rally

We’re super excited to participate in the first (hopefully annual) Central Illinois Day of the Girl Rally!  This event will be happening on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 10am to noon right at our homebase in the Independent Media Center (202 S. Broadway Ave in Urbana).

You’re welcome to RSVP at the Facebook invite or simply show up.

If you’re not familiar with Day of the Girl, it’s a movement started by the United Nations to raise awareness of gender inequality around the world.

This event is free and open to the public and here’s the awesome stuff that will be happening (click for expanded view):

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Hope to see you there!

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No Saturday open hours – we’ll be rockin’ CU Pride Fest instead

No Saturday open hours – we’ll be rockin’ CU Pride Fest instead

Just a heads-up, we won’t have the space open tomorrow morning for our regular Open Hours.

Instead, we’re super excited to participate in this year’s CU Pride Festival taking place in downtown Champaign!

Stop by our table in the parking lot by Kofusion, in front of the Orpheum kids museum.  We’re hoping to repeat the awesomeness that was last year:

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We’ll be there 3-9pm.  We’d love to see you!

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