The Columbus Idea Foundry has the opportunity to double our size, establish a “clean” arts and tech wing, and rent enough studio space to continue our self-sustainability, growth, and community-oriented mission. Help us make this happen by funding and attending our interactive fabrication festival!
For those who don’t know, we are a community workshop located in Columbus, Ohio (the Indie Arts Capital of the World, as declared by the Columbus City Council…) We are a 10,000 square foot workshop, educational center, hackerspace superieur, artists’ community and business incubator, and have been teaching classes in and providing community access to all manner of tools (welding, CNC machining, laser cutting, 3D printing, and more) to the general public since 2008. We also produce goods and develop prototypes for local retailers and innovators, and our products bookend the creative spectrum from handmade wooden toys to experimental electric vehicles and everything in between.
On August 15th, we will have the opportunity to expand into our neighboring industrial unit (with which we already share several interior doors… an architectural match made in heaven!) By doing so, we will be able to split our workshop into a “dirty” space (our current location) with welding, woodworking, metal casting, metal fabrication, CNC machining, and other dust- and chip-making processes; and a “clean” space (the new wing) with, among other planned resources, a photographic dark room, a videography stage, a textile/upholstery station, a proper lithography room for etching/engraving circuits, metal, and screenprinting masks, and about a dozen more studio rental spaces for clean arts.
In order to make our move, we need funds to finance our build-out; to help with moving costs, insurance costs, security costs, and more. To raise the money, we plan to host an all-day fest to celebrate everything we do – arts, tech, education, maker culture, and community – and we’re asking for your support to make it happen. Provided that we reach our target goal, we will throw a party on August 20th, 2011, in both the old and the new space. On that day, will host our annual Power Tool Drag Race (www.ToolRaces.com); perform live, interactive demonstrations of design and fabrication within our current workshop; provide tours of our new wing; and throw an after party with live music, “Burning Man”-style performances and art, and much more.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
