Our Version of Craft Heaven: Swap, Sew, Screen, Repeat
For me, it’s like being a kid in a candy store— In room 1 are sewing machines all lined up in neat rows; shiny new scissors, spools of thread and heaps of fabric. Peek into room 2 and see long tables covered in crisp paper, silk screens, and brightly hued tubs of ink ready to be opened. It’s Christmas morning, first day of school, that sweet anticipation.
If you like to craft you will likely spend a good chunk of your day in the Swap-O-Rama-Rama* with us.
In the Sewing Room ALL DAY:
Clothing Swap—Donate your old adult or kid clothes; Come pick through our piles of available freebies—hack them, mod them, print on them, cut ‘em up and use them for some other project. This is the spirit of the Swap!
No Sewing Necessary:
▪ Make a Cape—be a superhero, a bat, a wizard, a princess, whatever…Halloween is right around the corner folks;
▪ Make a Tutu/Mermaid Seaweed Skirt/Hawaiian Hula Skirt without touching a needle and thread;
▪ Mod your T-shirt –you can make those fringed, beaded shirts all the cool kids are sporting; use scissors, fabric pens, glue on some bling, add beads and more.
Some Sewing Required:
“Little pocket monsters” with brilliant artist Meredith MacLeod. She’ll help get you started and supervise some machine and hand-sewing monster making. Go as simple or elaborate as you want; and if you feel the need to adopt or a Monster of hers, you may be in luck.
For More Sewing: We have sewing machines for you to use, with experienced sewers on hand to help troubleshoot, teach and inspire. Take full advantage. And if you want to really get your game on—stick around and maybe we’ll have a catwalk in the afternoon so you can strut in your new threads!
Screen Printing Room
Idiot or Genius These Portland based artists are designing a special one-off poster for our event! You can come and print the final color layer on the poster and take one home with you! They’ll also have their own work to show and sell, and can help you print on almost anything;
Rock, Paper Scissors Collective If you don’t know your hometown RPS from Art Murmur or from their admirable outreach work with teens, you should. These returning artists are coming with a cool new batch of silkscreens, as well as some of their member-crafted zines, shirts and paperie to sell.
Park Day Screening Zone Add some cool, original graphics to any fabric, paper or clothes you find in your visit—or even the shirt or hoodie off your back.
*Swap-O-Rama-Rama by Wendy Tremayne is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Maker Supply Chain: East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
Probably you’re already hip to the re-claim, re-use, re-cycle thing…. and you may even be one of the many people who likes to take things and repair, hack, mod, alter or otherwise transform them into other things… This is the resourceful spirit of maker culture. The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse is a non-profit at the center of this movement toward more creative sustainability.
Since 1979, when it was founded by two Oakland public school teachers, the Depot has been a treasure trove of arts & craft materials, educational supplies, vintage furniture, home décor, paper goods, fabric, and much more.
According to their website: The mission of the East Bay Depot is to divert waste materials from landfills by collecting and redistributing discarded goods as low-cost supplies for art, education, and social services in our Depot Store. The educational mission is to increase the awareness of school children and the general public regarding the green benefits of reusing materials.
It should come as no surprise then, that the Depot is one of our biggest supporters over here at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire! In addition to giving us carloads of fabric, yarn, cardboard, paper, inks and whatnot….they also loan us Iggy, one of their Artists-In-Residence who will be coming to the Faire and leading a very cool hands-on project converting old floppy disks (remember those?) into toy cars, pinwheels and other fun take-aways.
Besides all these artsy endeavors, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse has a HUGE impact as both an environmental and humanitarian aid organization. The Depot diverts approximately 200 tons of reusable material from the landfills each year!
And, in partnership with the Central Contra Costa County Solid Waste Authority, the Depot distributes discarded winter clothing and other humanitarian aid supplies to crisis areas in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mississippi and Japan, as well as in our local communities.
Go Depot Go!
**Pictures from Oaklandart.com
Listen: Conspiracy of Beards, Old Tunnel Road, The Blondies, Eurostache and More….
Well, we’re not finished programming the East Bay Mini Maker Faire yet, but we can at least reveal a little of what we know will be coming to our stages…it’s really fun to see the range of talented performers who apply to participate in the Faire.
I have to say that I wish we had more stages and more time—so we could include everyone. That said—let us tantalize you with a few of the exciting acts we’ll be bringing you on Sunday, October 16…
…if you haven’t been following us on facebook or twitter, you are missing out…you might not have heard the inimitable Chicken Paw—it sure don’t taste like chicken! (click now so you’re in the know…)
Conspiracy of Beards
http://conspiracyofbeards.com/
http://conspiracyofbeards.com/videos.php
The Bay Area’s Conspiracy of Beards is a 30-man choir that performs gritty, original arrangements of the songs of Leonard Cohen. Formed in 2003 through the inspiration of the late Peter Kadyk, this a Capella group has become known for their live performances at Bay Area venues such as the Cafe du Nord, the Great American Music Hall, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as well as in bars, bookstores, hospices and various other community centers. Transforming Cohen’s simple melodies into complex 4- and 5-part harmonies, the group achieves a sound that is both robust and tender, with influences of indie rock, jazz, gospel, barbershop, classical and doo-wop in the unique arrangements the choir creates. Using the genius of Cohen’s words, the Beards inspire audiences to ponder romance, politics, sex, longing and spirituality, all amid laughter and cheers.
Old Tunnel Road
Well here we are, Old Tunnel Road. Our music is as varied as the expressions on our faces and covers a little bit of loving, some gospel, loose women, looser men, and a whole lotta fun.
The Blondies
The Blondies are a group of Berkeley/Oakland natives that have been rocking the stages of Freight and Salvage, local clubs, school concerts, and benefits in the Bay Area music scene for the past 4 years. They love writing and playing their own music but also play The Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. They are currently in the studio with Santana guitarist Chris Solberg recording their own music.
Eurostache
The eurostache group is a project centering around electro-acoustic real-time collaborative experiments in sound. Membership is open to anyone as our sonic concept is flexible and allows people from diverse sonic backgrounds to participate. Our key experimental technique is using unique hand-built and circuit-bent instruments in unusual combinations with traditional ones. The instruments are amplified (often with hand-built transducers) and blended with digital effects to produce a raw organic/electronic sound. Performances often include visual elements, audience participation, and improvisation, to convey story, mood, or emotion.
Call for Art: Submit Your Designs for the Screenprinting Zone
Part of the fun at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire is being able to hack, make and remake things into new, personalized stuff. This is truly a Do-It-Together experience. One of the many places this will happen is the SWAP-O-RAMA-RAMA.
Folks donate clothing, fabrics and notions, and come to sift through, claim new pieces, cut them up, sew them, print on them, transform them into costumes, new clothes, bags, hats, capes, and the like. We have a huge sewing room with experienced staff, sewing machines, thread, glue guns, gadgets and all the accoutrements for your re-making pleasure. And we may even have a fashion show at the end of the day to showcase all the fantabulous creations you all make.
We also have a super-fun, tricked-out screen printing room where you can print on anything you find—apparel, fabrics, paper, cardboard, backpacks, or the shirt off your back.
And in the spirit of local fun, we want YOU to help us find some cool designs to have available at the EBMMF. You can see YOUR ORIGINAL ARTWORK on other people’s stuff, and contribute to the overall joy and community celebration.
Sooooo, we’re having a contest—from now until Sept. 15th. Pease submit your designs for our screen printing competition. We’ll pick 3 winners and burn screens of your designs for the event! WINNERS RECEIVE 2 FREE TICKETS TO THE EBMMF AND A T-SHIRT WITH YOUR WINNING DESIGN plus some surprise gifts TBD. Plus we’ll announce the winning art on our website here and you’ll be marginally famous with art geeks across the Bay. 🙂
Interested? Please send your line or graphic art (for printing in one color only) to screenprint@ebmakerfaire.com and write “Screen Print Contest” in the subject line. Please attach a JPG or PDF file. We’ll contact you if we need a higher res version. So keep it simple—but share your brilliance!
Last Call for Prizes
Ok folks, so Brian Clonan won our First Prize Thursday when he bought 2 adult and 5 kid tickets! He gets to choose between the super cool copy of the book Geek Dad by Ken Demead and the eco chic felted cell phone cover by Rebecca Grigsby of Fresh on Monday.
Lucky winner number two, Martin Caplan wins the other…WOOT!
Ok folks–this is the last time to try to win a prize–and it’s a cool one. Have you seen Girl and Rhino Tees? You probably have, and you probably laughed, at least if you have a slightly naughty, off beat sense of humor. We’re picturing one of the tamer ones here but visit the site for the wider selection. Buy your tickets by 7pm tonight and you could win one!
The Girl and Rhino will be showcasing their smart, fun T-shirts at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire this Sunday. Come and get it!!!
Reclaim, Reuse, Reinvent
Let’s give a shout out to Johnna Arnold, EBMMF Artist in Residence… she’ll be the screen printing maven of the Swap-O-Rama-Rama screen next Sunday.
She’s a photographer, printmaker and teacher—as well as a parent. She has an eye for finding beauty in the concrete and asphalt structures that dominate urban landscapes and has a gorgeous series of work using the local freeways as her inspiration.
And she’s bringing some of her personal silk screens to the EBMMF so that you can screen print her imagery onto your newly found, re-made, and/or up-cycled clothing—or even the shirt off your back, if you’re game.
Bring any clothes you’re ready to let go of too—and donate them to the swap. We’ll have plenty of fodder for your printing, crafting and COSTUME MAKING and whatever is leftover at the end will be given to local service organizations. (bring any sizes of kids’, women’s and men’s clothing in decent condition—no shoes or accessories)
Some rights reserved by Clint M Chilcott
Maker-Palooza (aka Fogeys Who Rock)
Here’s a teeny reminder that it’s not only Kids Who Rock at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire. Just look at the lineup of fantabulous “adult” creators who will be busting it out for us on the 24th!
Daniel Popsicle is the brainchild (lovechild) of local composer, musician, and impresario Daniel Plonsey. Legend has it that he got the idea from a meeting with his mentor Anthony Braxton who told him he needed to start making “music for a new millenium” – flexible, present and new.
The music played by Daniel Popsicle can’t be confined to any label or category. As Dan calls it—it’s Music Of El Cerrito—connected to it’s moment and time and whoever happens to be hanging around playing it
Lest you think we take ourselves too seriously, here come the Devil-Ettes and Pip Squeak A Go Go with Cowboy Jared! 
These go-go goddesses have gained notoriety for settin’ the fringe a flyin’ at their wickedly wild high-energy shows. Keeping the lost art of go-go alive, these gals are masters of the historical dances from the hey-day of the 1960’s…get on your feet and prepare to go-go.
Toychestra is an all-women, arty, experimental ensemble that plays original music on toy instruments.
We (in the interest of full disclosure I should add that I’m a 12 year member) have recorded several albums, toured widely in Europe and brought joy and levity to children—and adults who feel like children—everywhere, including ourselves. I promise you won’t be able to repress your smiles or stay seated for long.
Eric Glick Rieman will be playing his prepared and extended Rhodes electric piano for us. His modifications to the Rhodes and other instruments have garnered him even more street cred in the experimental world and he has been playing with other masters of the arcane like Fred Frith, Ikue Mori and Lesli Dalaba. He’s a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist performer and composer—and we welcome him to the EBMMF.
And as if that wasn’t enough…the one man wonder band Hungry, Hungry Ghost plays his first gig since moving to the Bay Area! Check out his rad video (that refuses to embed properly!!)
Don’t forget, though, the kids who will be giving the Fogeys a run for the money on the main stage: The Black Bones, Poison Apple Pie, and The She’s! Young hutzpah and energy VS. older wisdom and experience… Who will emerge victor?