Featured Makers Archives - Baton Rouge Maker Faire

We’re thrilled to welcome San Francisco instrument inventor Bryan Day to the 2024 Baton Rouge Maker Faire. Bryan has been crafting sound machines from found objects since the 1990s. For this presentation, he will guide visitors through a demonstration of building sound sculptures; then he will perform using his creations.

Demonstrations

Saturday, October 19 at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Main Library at Goodwood, Room 102

Performance

Saturday, October 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Main Library at Goodwood, Plaza Stage

All this and more at the Baton Rouge Maker Faire, hosted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library!

Here are just a few of the instruments Bryan has created:

Durty Gurty

Metric Tapewarp

Ball Tilt Deluxe

Learn more about Bryan Day and his inventions here:

Maker Website

Today’s Featured Maker is Morgan Udoh of Okoye Couture! An Indiana transplant to the Red Stick, Udoh works with natural materials and semi-precious stones to make incredibly beautiful sculpted and beaded jewelry.

Inspired by Wakanda, as seen in Black Panther, and afrofuturism, every piece of Okoye Couture art is hand-sculpted from clay, and individual glass beads are added after firing. At the Okoye Couture booth, you’ll be able to design your own bracelet on paper, and enter into a drawing to win a free original piece of wearable art! Join us on October 6th to catch a glimpse of these beautiful pieces.

Students from the visual arts program at Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet are excited to present their work to you, Baton Rouge! The SMAMS booth will be run by the students and will showcase some of the work they’ve done this year. You will also be able to learn how to make foam and linoleum prints on paper. Anything you make, you get to take home!

Join the students at the Maker Faire on October 6th, from 10 AM-5 PM. You can also stop by the Big Brown Bat Ceramics booth to meet their teacher!

Miguel de Jesus works for NASA at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where the most powerful rockets in the world are built. Of the 136 external tanks that Michoud Assembly has built since 1979, only one was not sent into space.

The Michoud Assembly Facility is currently working on major projects like NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, managed by Marshall, and the Orion spacecraft, managed by Johnson Space Center. The facility will also build the critical core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built.

Miguel De Jesus was born in Puerto Rico has a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering and a Masters in Environmental Sciences and Occupational Health. He’s been the Safety Manager at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans since 2012. His presentation will cover what is required to build the most powerful rockets in the world, what they’re used for, and the people who build them. He’ll also talk about why making the most powerful rockets in the world is important for our nation.

It’s all part of the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire on October 6th. Don’t miss “How to Make a Rocket, Cajun Style” at 12 PM in Conference Room 102!

1. Tell us about yourself.
We are a diverse group of woodworkers with a wide variety of skill areas; all in wood. We have members who are wood turners, furniture makers, and cabinet makers to name a few. A few are also professional woodworkers but most are hobbyist.

2. What are you presenting at the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire?
BR Woodworkers will show some of the tools of woodworking and smaller articles they have made: turned bowls, toys, decorative items, wood tools, etc. We will also be demonstrating a small amount of historical hand tool use interactively.

3. Why is making important to you?
I feel that most of us are makers because we derive a strong sense of accomplishment from taking a natural material and transforming it into a functional tool, piece of furniture, or a decorative item that pleases us and others.

4. What have you made that you are most proud of?
Most of our members started woodworking because of an encouraging individual(s) in our lives who was there to teach, answer questions, and introduce us to the art of making. We wish to do the same for others and share the enjoyment we find in our craft.

5. Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
While many tools are expensive, most woodworkers start modestly with an emphasis on building skills and craftsmanship with the tools they have available. Given an unlimited budget most of us would buy more toys,…uh tools to make finer items and expand our work spaces. Some of us might even open schools of woodworking etc.

For more information, visit the Baton Rouge Woodworkers Club website!
#BRMakerFaire

1. Tell us about yourself.

My name is Glenn Kauffman and by trade I am a Creative Coder, working in interactive media, interactive installation, prototyping and R&D. While doing that I end up crossing over into many different disciplines such as PC and A/V hardware, networking, microcontollers, photography, music and fine art. Currently, I’m exploring VR and other physical computing technologies, how we interact with them and how we can use the for productivity and play.

2. What are you presenting at the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire?

As a follow up to my presentation last year, “Oculus Rift: A VR Primer”, I’ll be talking about all that has changed over the past year, the upcoming consumer release of the Oculus Rift and where we go from here. Afterwards, I will be giving hands on demos, so attendees can experience VR for themselves.

Everyone loves Oculus Rift demos!

3. Why is making important to you?

Making is a way of life. As makers, we create things we don’t have, fix things that are broken and modify things to make them better. We are in the perfect place and time to use our grandfathers spirit of ingenuity and do-it-yourself attitude with a vastly wider range of technology and materials along with a nearly infinitely deep library of information via the Internet. (As long as we don’t get sidetracked by the sheer number of cats)

4. What was the first thing you remember making?

I’ve had the joy of tinkering most of my life. My mother, in her infinite wisdom, heavily invested in Lego for me. Worth their weight in gold, they were (and still are) an endless source fun and education. When I would get a new set, I would always follow the directions the first time around and build what was on the front of the box. I’d learn a new technique along the way, but soon after I’d complete it the new kit would be ripped apart and the tinkering and remixes would begin. I particularly liked making fanciful Rube Goldberg contraptions that did complex, but unnecessary things, probably inspired by the opening scene of ‘Back to the Future’.

5. What have you made that you are most proud of?

While there are many projects that I’m proud of, including my two Oculus VR Jam submissions, there is one project that provided me with some of the greatest satisfaction; my x0xb0x. Before Adafruit had become as big as it has and before the Arduino was a household name in the maker world (and the term maker was a still in its nascent stage), Adafruit had created an obsessively sourced kit replica of the Roland TB-303 Sequencing Synthesizer. http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/ I missed the first two runs of a hundred, but managed to get one from the third. Building it was immensely satisfying and it continues to be a part of my regularly used hardware, often showing up in the soundtracks for games, videos and other projects I work on.

6. Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?

While Second Life and others have brought to life the cyberspace visualizations of Neil Stephenson’s Snow Crash, none of them have managed to fully capture what was in my imagination after reading it. A digital world to build, meet, collaborate, and share within. If I had an unlimited budget, I think that would be an amazing project to bring to life. With technologies like Oculus Rift, Microsoft HoloLens, Leap Motion, Microsoft Kinect and many others available to near future users in a ubiquitous manner, we are closer than ever to being able to bring that idea to everyone.

1.Tell us about yourself.

My Name is Amber Damare. I am from the small town of Covington, Louisiana. I specialize in printmaking, illustration, sculpture, woodworking and one of a kind accessories and clothing apparel.

2.What are you presenting at the Baton Mini Maker Faire?

I am presenting my hand printed works of art that also hand drawn. These works range from screen prints to lino block prints. I will also be presenting my new hand made wooden shelves that can be used for a variety of uses.

3.Why is making important to you?

Making is important to me because it gives me a way to use energy to create things that are of use or to express feelings. I have always been creating and will continue to create as long as I possibly can.

4.What was the first thing you remember making?

The first thing I remember making was actually a simple drawing of a horse that my mother taught me how to draw when I was around the age of 3. It used simple shapes including ovals and triangles to create a simple shape of a horse. I still remember to this day how to draw it.

5.What have you made that you are most proud of?

There are several projects that I am quite proud of. Many of them just for the fact that I persevered and despite the challenges still finished them and in turn learned skills to bring to the next piece that I will create.

6.Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?

I would probably first build a studio space. Then get all of the equipment to be able to make transparencies, burn screens and print them. I would also get a printing press to print wood blocks and lino blocks. These are the things I miss the most about not being at school and having access to these facilities to create the works I was able to when I was there.

ETSY: ArtbyAmberDamare

Facebook:Art by Amber Damare

Atmosphere Aerial Video and Photography Baton Rouge LA’s premier aerial video and photography specialist. Drones, UAV and Multicopter they have it all and can fly all. #BRMakerFaire

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m an artist living in New Orleans, and I work in the welding department of a fabrication shop. I grew up in Baton Rouge and graduated from LSU. My favorite places to be are deep in the woods or relaxing on a beach, just as long as I’m surrounded by nature, my biggest inspiration.

What are you presenting at the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire?

I will be presenting some of my metalsmithing work, and the tools I use to create it. I create jewelry and sculptures made of copper, silver, nickel, bronze, and brass. I also incorporate organic materials like bones and insects into my work.

Why is making important to you?

I have notebooks and scrap papers filled with my ideas, and each time I get to bring one to life it gives me a feeling of happiness and accomplishment. I am a very private person, so it gives me an enjoyable way to express myself to others.

What was the first thing you remember making?

The first thing I ever made from metal was a plain copper ring with a hammered texture. I remember being so proud of it, even though it was so simple.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

The cicada pin I made at the end of my first semester of metalsmithing school. It has multiple layers and movable wings. I designed it with techniques in mind that I had not mastered yet, and some that I had never tried before. Then I just started making it like I knew what I was doing. I was nervous the whole time that I would mess it up. It came together exactly how I wanted, and when I finished I couldn’t believe I had pulled it off.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?

My favorite thing to do with metal is pierce work – sawing designs out of a sheet of metal with a fret saw. So I would make myself a life sized pair of wearable sterling silver fairy wings. I would saw out intricate designs on the wings with my fret saw, use rivets to create movable parts, and I’d set blue labradorite stones (my favorite) in a pattern on the wings.

bluereverie
whimsical creations for the imaginative mind

https://www.etsy.com/shop/bluereverie

#BRMakerFaire