Waterloo Mini Maker Faire rocked!

Waterloo Maker Faire 2013 079

Last Saturday, the first ever Waterloo Mini Maker Faire at Kitchener City Hall was a smash hit, drawing a crowd of 4000!  Makers of all stripes contributed to the event, which was organized by Jaymis Goertz and an army of volunteers from kwartzlab, my very favourite makerspace.

makebright busted out Project Loud Monkey for a new incarnation we called Son of a Monkey that involved hooking toys up to large amplifiers.  Being *in* the event means fewer pics, but a lot of smiles as we engaged a steady stream of visitors to our outdoor booth the whole day long.

Here’s my pal Agnes Niewiadomski, maker of extraordinary props, plants, and art.  Click through for a semi-reasonable number of pics from my brief run around the event.

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1shot #131-single file for sharrows please

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A Public Service Announcement from makebright:

Drivers, when you see this marking on the road you need to go single file with bicycle traffic, not try to swerve around them.  The markings have been delightfully named “sharrows” (share+arrows) and are a reminder of what I believe has always been the law: cyclists are allowed to take the whole lane.  It especially makes sense here in front of Kitchener City Hall where the street is narrow and traffic speeds are relatively slower anyway.

Safe cycling, y’all.

DW

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Grand Porch Party 2013–music+community for the win!

Grand Porch Party 2013

You start with a band and a porch.
Like the Ever Lovin’ Jug Band and 25 Avondale Ave S.  Then you add community, amazing sponsors who totally get the vision, a hard-working volunteer crew, and absolutely unbeatable weather.  Then multiply by 34 acts and 22 porches.  So went The Grand Porch Party on Sunday.  I said it at last year’s event and I’ll say it again this year: *this* is my Waterloo.

Click through for a completely unreasonable number of photos…

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Grand Porch Party is Sunday!

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The Grand Porch Party is this Sunday!  Check out their site for the line-up and then come out and listen to some great music.  Don’t worry: I’ll be shooting pics, not playing this guitar.

DW

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1shot #130-imagine artists working here in Waterloo

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The old post office, King and Bridgeport, uptown Waterloo.  Lots of light, tons of parking, on the public transit mainline, and right in the core of uptown.  Totally empty. 
What’s the next step?

DW

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King Street Art Market-DTK shows the way

Kitchener Art Market - May 2013 023

The first King Street Art Market rolled out Friday night in downtown Kitchener.  Great music, art, and food in the street.  Really great vibe chatting with everyone.  I think we were all happy to be out in the evening with the temperature finally above 20C.  High-five to the sponsors!

Click through for an unreasonable number of photos.

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1shot #129-cloud maker

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King St between Francis and Water St. 
Just happened to be looking up and saw the cloud maker…

DW

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Only 2 Weeks to The Grand Porch Party!

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Want to know how anything cool gets done in the community?  It’s no secret: just plain old hard work.  The Grand Porch Party is Sunday, June 9, just two weeks away.  The hard-working volunteer crew was busy creating signs and buttons today, only a few hours before the GPP came home with a Waterloo Region Arts Award for Best New Event on Sunday night.

GPP is live music on front porches in a great Waterloo neighbourhood, free-no-pay.  Having shot some photos of the GPP last year, I was eager to support this great cause again this year with some more photography and blogging.  Get out to this event!

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You are invited to a talk on Looking Up and In

LUAI-promo-600x2400 You are invited to a 20-minute talk I’m giving on my piece “Looking Up and In” Thursday, May 23 at 8:30pm out in front of Kitchener City Hall in the Civic Square.  Please RSVP to either the facebook event or to hilary.abel@kitchener.ca. Just need to know rough numbers for snacks!

Really hope you can make it.  -DW

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Kitchener City Hall from Gaukel St — Looking Up and In projection up top

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1shot #128-the thing about scale

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is that it is often inversely proportional to what is important.

DW

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