Tag: Decatur Makers

Decatur Makers to celebrate Grand Opening Tomorrow!

From the great folks at the Decatur Makers…

The doors to Decatur Makers opened a while back, but Atlanta’s first “family-friendly” makerspace never got around to staging an official public Grand Opening — until now.

Make plans to stop by the Grand Opening on Saturday, May 6, 2017 from 1-6 p.m. This free event — open to everyone — allows you to tour the makerspace, see demonstrations of projects, and get hands-on with DIY activities including arts and crafts, woodworking, electronics and more. City of Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett will lead a ribbon-cutting ceremony unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Decatur Makers is a community makerspace where adults and school-aged kids use a wide array of tools and technologies to build things limited only by their creative inventiveness. It is located at 605 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue in downtown Decatur behind the First Christian Church, across the street from the Decatur post office.

“Thanks to the continued support of our founders, community partners, and members we have turned a nearly abandoned gym in downtown Decatur into an amazing makerspace full of equipment and tools, all utilized by a diverse and growing family of creative makers,” says Lew Lefton, Executive Director of Decatur Makers. “We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone and are proud to be part of the growing network of makerspaces in the Atlanta area and the State of Georgia.”

A weekly “Rube Goldberg Machine Build” MeetUp is scheduled every Monday in April from 7-9 p.m. at the space. This event, which will be part of the amazing ribbon cutting, is open to all members of the community — so all ages and skill sets are welcome. Details of these gatherings are available on the Events page at DecaturMakers.org.

In addition to the Monday night MeetUps, Decatur Makers hosts ongoing Open Build Nights on most Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m.  At Open Build Nights, people can tour the space, meet members, and get hands-on with a project.

Decatur Makers is still accepting memberships, including a limited time offer of multi-year Founding Memberships at varying levels for individuals and families until the end of April. Membership benefits include access to the space and it’s community, and Founding Memberships include an additional  charitable gift to the organization to help sustain it.

The maker movement promotes creating, repairing, repurposing and otherwise making things from electronics to textiles, usually around shared equipment and community space. Decatur Makers is “a welcoming community of inquisitive people who work together in a safe environment to discover, understand, design and create interesting things.”

Maker Faire Atlanta Coming To Downtown Decatur This Weekend!

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From the Decatur Makers…

This weekend, downtown Decatur will be swarming with Makers from all across the region for Maker Faire Atlanta 2015 (http://makerfaireatl.com).

This year the Faire has over 200 makers from all across the region and has expanded onto the DHS football field.  The green space on Trinity and Commerce will have Drone racing, too!  You can see robot battles, glassblowing, fiber arts, a live interview with Andy Weir (author of the Martian), and the entire DHS gym will be full of kids activities (Innovators Playground).

There is also a free education conference http://makedu.org at the Faire where over 200 educators will gather to learn about how design thinking and project based learning techniques can improve STEAM education in their local schools.

The Faire is FREE but in order for us to get a solid headcount (which helps us get sponsors that keep the Faire free) we are asking that people get a ticket at
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/maker-faire-atlanta-2015-registration-18125000364

Decatur Makers has a large presence at the Faire, so if you want to pitch in and volunteer for a shift to support your local makerspace, sign up at http://vols.pt/yFUQLF

You can also volunteer for the Faire as a whole by signing up at http://makerfaireatl.com/call-for-volunteers

Decatur Makers Host Open House This Wednesday

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Irm of the Decatur Makers writes in…

To celebrate the National Week of Making announced by the White House, Decatur Makers is hosting an OPEN HOUSE on Wednesday, June 17, from 7-9:00pm.  Here’s a chance to check out their space (which is about to undergo renovation so it may look a little out of sorts), meet some of their community and see some of their cool projects (air cannons or trebuchet cornhole, anyone?)… and maybe get a little hands-on with some making of your own.

If you’re even a little curious about this maker thing, let them know you can stop by, RSVP here.

Decatur Makers Seeking Scholarship Recipients

decatur makers logoLew writes in…

Decatur Makers is seeking the following individuals to be scholarship recipients.

  • 2 K-12 teachers
  • 4 College students
  • 6 Middle and High School students

Recipients will get a full 1 year membership to Decatur Makers.  They will be expected to form teams and produce projects which can be used in middle and high school STEM classes.  Click here for a flyer that has more info.

NOTE: the April 1 deadline has been extended for another week!  We are still accepting applications.  Apply at http://decaturmakers.org/maker-scholar-program/
We especially encourage applicants from groups which are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields.

This Makerspace Scholarship program is sponsored by a grant from the Georgia Technology Authority’s Digital Georgia Initiative.

Decatur Makers Surpass Fundraising Goal

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From the Decatur Makers…

All the Decatur Makers are hootin’ and hollerin’ because our Kickstarter campaign has surpassed the initial goal of raising $15,000. Close to 200 people from all over the world (yes we have international backers) have come together to support your friendly neighborhood makerspace.

This means we’re closer to being operational and officially opening the doors. Now we can build out a starter workshop, add some AV capabilities, and install an RFID security system to better control access to the building and tools.

This is a huge milestone for Decatur Makers, but we’re not done yet! There is still one day left to help us reach the stretch goal which would open the side of the building (allows for larger projects, improves access for wheelchairs, handtrucks, etc.) and install some virtualization servers for programming classes and other open source projects.

“Decatur Makers is thrilled to see hundreds of supporters come together to help us open our all ages makerspace.  We’re so excited we may extend the age range to include embryos and the walking dead!” says Lew Lefton, Executive Director.  Appropriate, as the Kickstarter campaign http://bit.ly/dmks will close at midnight on Thursday, Oct 30, the eve of Halloween.

You can still back us at any level from $1 on up.  We have many new backer rewards!  Another way to support the organization is by sharing the following link with your networks:

http://bit.ly/dmks

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us as we create this awesome community and facility.

Decatur Makers Kickstarter Campaign Off to Good Start

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Maker Faire Atlanta in Decatur this weekend!  Iman writes in…

With inventors of all types descending on downtown Decatur this coming weekend, Maker Faire Atlanta will bring 20,000 visitors and “makers” from across the country.  The local Decatur Makers will have a prominent presence with several booths to showcase a flaming Ruben’s Tube, a human foosball table, a wood craft for kids as well as two cars in the Power Racing Series.
 
To coincide with this maker paradise, Decatur Makers has launched a Kickstarter campaign that’s brought in over $5,600 in their first two days.  That’s 37% of their $15K goal which will fund workshop construction and additional equipment to aim for a Fall opening.  Lew Lefton, executive director of Decatur Makers, says their space is 80% complete and the Kickstarter is needed to carry them the final mile.
 
“There’s no better time for a Kickstarter campaign,” says Lefton.  “We’ve just completed a successful initial fundraising effort that enabled us to repair and renovate our space.  And this weekend is an excellent opportunity to introduce Atlanta’s first all-ages makerspace to a broad cross-section of experienced and novice makers.”
For more info, go to Kickstarter.com/DecaturMakers.
To volunteer at Decatur Makers’ booths at Maker Faire Atlanta, sign up at DecaturMakers.org.

Decatur Makers Reach Fundraising Goal, Work Day This Saturday

Irm with the Decatur Makers writes in…

Just a neighborly FYI that we have shattered our initial $50K fundraising goal and are now ticking things off our wish-list such as a new roof, HVAC, inside walls, bathrooms, and safety equipment. AND this saturday, we’re coming together as a community for a hands-on Work Day to get the space ready for Maker Faire (makerfaireatl.com) which will be happening October 4/5.  Projects include plumbing, hammering, painting, digging, electrical and more.
We’re getting the word out that we’re looking for many hands, at all different skill levels, to help us anytime this Saturday between 8:30 and 4:00  http://www.meetup.com/Decatur-Makers/events/204923122/