SEPTEMBER 13-15

DOWNTOWN TOLEDO (PROMENADE PARK, IMAGINATION STATION OUTDOOR AREAS)

University of Toledo School of Visual and Performing Arts faculty and students are involved in the festival in a BIG way! We are presenting several attractions this year. Look for us on Saturday afternoon at the Mini Maker Faire (Noon-6 p.m.).  The Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

UT ATTRACTIONS AT MOMENTUM

ALL TOGETHER NOW

JULIA LABAY DARRAH + YUSUF LATEEF (ALUMNA AND UT PART-TIME FACULTY)

All Together Now combines aspects of play, sculpture, and installation using interchangeable life-size forms. These lightweight sculptures will feature a conglomerate of images of the human body and will be placed on a stage, inviting participants to interact with the forms to create a “family photo”.

DIALOGUE WITH THE RIVER

BARBARA MINER (UT PROFESSOR OF ART, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ART)

Dialogue With The River will be a group completed project, enabling hundreds of people to participate in the creation of an aesthetically engaging, temporary work of art. Based on Tibetan Prayer Flags, hand silk-screened flags with environmental information about the Maumee River and Lake Erie printed on the colorful fabric will be created. The flags will be available for individuals to write on and create “dialogues”, “wishes” or “pledges” for the health of the river and the lake. The customized flags will then be strung on the tent like uprights, creating a moving wind-driven sculpture. The idea is that the wind will carry the good wishes and the promises out into the world in hopes that the newly gained awareness of the river’s plight will influence the choices each of us makes. Didactic materials from regional and national groups such as Partners for Clean Streams, The Black Swamp Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy will be available for visitors.

ECO PARADE

MATT FOSS (ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THEATRE, UT DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND FILM)

Eco Parade showcases our community water source biodiversity, ecological need, and health with aims at improving our collective relationship and stewardship of the system as a whole. The parade will feature large format puppets and performance, live music, and community created objects; everyone will be invited to participate in the processional.

BUBBLE BUTT

SABA: SAM SHEFFIELD + BARRY WHITTAKER
(SHEFFIELD – BALTIMORE ARTIST, WHITTAKER – ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ART, UT DEPARTMENT OF ART)

Players will work as a team to explore a surreal and humorous landscape as a pair of sentient pants. Players must work together by bouncing on a convoluted, two-person, human-powered interface to control each leg of the pants avatar as it journeys through a series of ridiculous obstacles and distractions. Enjoy this work on Saturday, September 15th at the Toledo Mini Maker Faire.

STEM

MATTHEW DANSACK + SEBASTIEN SCHOHN (UT ART ALUMNI)

Stem is a digital interactive media project using multiple song stems (tracks of one or two instruments used to make a song) to allow participants a chance to create new song compositions. By interacting with an installation of amps, record crates, and digital technology, users can arrange the stems to create and download a song. Special thank you to Vincent Chiaverini for guitar samples.

UT BIODESIGN CHALLENGE PROJECTS AND BIOMATERIAL DEMONSTRATIONS

Professors Brian Carpenter and Eric Zeigler, along with UT students, will present Biodesign Projects by student teams that will engage with the greater public in a dialogue about real-world issues and potential solutions through biotechnology. Students will exhibit their prototypes along with their research.  Many of the prototypes made use of a 3D printer, CNC lasers, and CNC routers.  Additionally, UT faculty Brian Carpenter and Eric Zeigler will be performing simple biomaterial demonstrations. These demonstrations explore low-tech methods and materials that encourage playful interactions, to stimulate creativity, enabling the end user to tinker, design and build their own devices and realize the potential of imagination.