Born To Make

Fab Lab Tulsa’s 2017 Mini Maker Faire celebrates the “Maker Mindset”

The Maker Faire's hands-on exhibits give attendees a true maker experience.

Attention DIYers, creatives, lifehackers, craftistas, Doc Emmett Browns and Tim “The Tool Man” Taylors--put down that Dremel and step away from the glue gun for this very important PSA. The amazing team over at the Hardesty Center for Fab Lab Tulsa have teamed up with Make: (a zine for makers) to offer Tulsans the chance to participate in what they call “the Greatest Show and Tell in Oklahoma”: Tulsa Mini Maker Faire. If you’re not familiar with Fab Lab Tulsa, it is an MIT-chartered nonprofit organization situated in Kendall Whittier Neighborhood that gives Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma the opportunity to interact with digital fabrication and rapid prototyping machinery they might not otherwise have access to for the purpose of creating personal projects, developing new inventions, designing new products, or simply learning computer-aided software and hardware (think laser cutters, 3D printers, and super cool milling machines). Executive Director Nathan Pritchett explained, “They’re the types of machines that people generally don’t have access to or can’t afford to have access to on their own.”
Makers can be seen creating cosplay pieces, medical prototypes, art pieces, signs for their startups, working machines, and--this is important--every manner of geekery from a giant Dalek to light sabers to tiny Millennium Falcons. If you have an idea and can use the software, they have the fabrication tools for you to make it a reality.
The 5th Annual Tulsa Mini Maker Faire is Oklahoma’s version of an award-winning, family-friendly event geared towards celebrating the “maker mindset”-- as Make: CEO Dale Dougherty explained in a recent TED Talk, “All of us are makers. We’re born makers. We have this ability to make things, to grasp things with our hands.”
“It’s really about empowering people,” Pritchett emphasized, “encouraging people to be more than just consumers, but also be makers. There really is no stereotypical maker, other than this DIY attitude, willingness to do it themselves, to learn, and to create on their own.”
In addition to many hands-on exhibits, the fair will include stage presentations such as “Radical Reactions” chemistry experiments, drone building, and an audience-wide virtual reality experience.
But the Tulsa Mini Maker Faire and maker mindset isn’t just for the engineers and programmers. It is literally about and for anyone who creates anything.  Exhibitors include artists, crafters, tinkerers, inventors, entrepreneurs, schools, universities, clubs, startups and businesses. Interested makers can apply to exhibit through July 31st.
The fair will be held Saturday, August 26th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Expo Square’s Central Park Hall. Admission is free to the public. Head over to Facebook, where you can RSVP to the event page at facebook.com/makerfairetulsa or sign up as a maker at tulsa.makerfaire.com.

Attendees can ask questions directly to the makers and explore creations of all kinds.

There is truly something for everyone at the Maker Faire.