Want to exhibit at Makevention 2023? Whether you want to demonstrate your craft, show off your invention or maker services, or sell your creations, we have options for you to explore on our Exhibitors page.
Our host organization:
Bloominglabs
This is BloomingLabs’ 10th year hosting Makevention! Come check out their tables and learn more about becoming a member!
Bloominglabs is space for sharing tools and knowledge to make stuff and is Indiana’s first hackerspace (also known as a makerspace). They are a group of people who rent a shared workshop with an amazing array of shared tools where they can build all kinds of projects both collectively and individually. BloomingLabs is located at 1840 S. Walnut Street.
To be involved with Bloominglabs, you can:
- Join BLabs for a monthly membership fee and build and make at the space, use the shared tools, and collaborate with the makers there;
- Attend low-cost workshops on all kinds of cool creative topics;
- Come to the public nights every Wednesday and try out the space;
- Or all of the above!
They are open to the public Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm. Their open hours are family friendly.
Come visit BloomingLabs at Makevention to learn more about their collective space, or visit Bloominglabs.org.
Our Sponsors:
Come visit our Sponsors’ tables at Makevention to learn more about their organizations and thank them for supporting Makevention 2023!
Cook (Gold Sponsor)
Cook embodies the Indiana maker spirit! In 1963, Bill and Gayle Cook started what eventually became the Cook Group. They invested $1,500 in a blowtorch, soldering iron, and plastic tubing to make catheters in their apartment in Bloomington, Indiana. Their first sale: two catheters at $7.50 each. That small company grew into Cook Medical, with global reach and products for treating conditions in almost every system of the body and area of the hospital. We’re happy to have Cook as a Gold Sponsor for the 2023 Makevention!
The City of Bloomington Department of Economic and Sustainable Development (Gold Sponsor)
The mission of the City of Bloomington’s Department of Economic & Sustainable Development is to cultivate a resilient community built on shared prosperity, inclusive economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, and a thriving arts and culture ecosystem. We are grateful to them for their support of Makevention 2023 and the local makers, crafters, and small businesses that exhibit at Makevention!
Wonderlab (Electrum Sponsor)
WonderLab provides opportunities to experience the wonder and excitement of science through interactive exhibits and programs that stimulate curiosity, encourage exploration, connect to the arts and everyday life, and foster lifelong learning. Wonderlab has been involved in Makevention for years and we are so happy to welcome them back this year as Electrum Sponsors!
The Dimension Mill (Electrum Sponsor)
The Mill is Bloomington’s center for coworking and entrepreneurship. Their members are startups, freelancers, techies, remote workers, creatives, side hustlers, and small companies. They provide office space and a community for people just like a lot of our Makevention exhibitors: entrepreneurs, inventors, and folks who like to do it themselves! We’re grateful to The Mill for their support of Makevention this year as an Electrum Sponsor!
Tom Cherry Muffler (Electrum Sponsor)
Tom Cherry Muffler has been a local auto repair shop here in Bloomington, IN, since 1972. They believe in quality service, offering brakes, exhaust, and suspension work. They started this business as part of the American dream, to own their own business and provide their community with trustworthy auto care. And we’re so happy to have Tom Cherry Muffler join Makevention 2023 as an Electrum Sponsor!
IU Luddy SICE Makerspaces (Silver Sponsor)
The Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering is one of the world’s largest, broadest, and best technology and information schools. The 3D Fabrication and Design Inquiry Labs at Luddy empower students to learn, collaborate, and create through hands-on activities. Their makerspaces are spread across Luddy’s facilities and give students access to many types of machines and tools. They’re a perfect fit for Makevention and we’re excited to have Luddy Makerspaces on board this year as a Silver Sponsor!
IU Center of Excellence for Women & Tech (Silver Sponsor)
IU’s Center of Excellence for Women & Technology promotes, empowers, and advances women to build confidence and knowledge about technology, expand their leadership and tech skills, and grow networks and resources to help them maximize their educations and careers. We’re happy to have them on board as Silver Sponsors to help inspire all of Southern Indiana’s women makers, creators, and doers!
Maker Exhibitors:
Come check out all of our awesome makers at Makevention 2023 at Switchyard Park!
Wild Endeavor – Artful Oddities: Handcrafted Wood Crafts (Wands, Bowls, Bottle Openers), Textiles, Crochet Dolls, Painted Magnets, Resin Art, and a wide variety of geeky items for youth and adults alike. Wood burning will be done at the booth.
Silverwood Wood Designs would like to introduce you to hand-crafted, high quality wooden gaming accessories at price points anyone can afford. We offer dice trays, dice towers, card storage and a fully modular game master screen in a variety of domestic and exotic woods. Our lead designer is also the author of a complete five book fantasy series called the Silverwood Chronicles which you can also check out. We also offer original games such as the Super Computer tableau building card game.
Jack of Peace Games will be displaying and selling home-designed board games!
The Quadrangles and I.C.E. Robotics
The Quadrangles and I.C.E. Robotics are two local high school aged community-based robotics teams with a mission to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM-related fields. Team members will demonstrate and explain student-designed and student-built robots in an interactive exhibit.
Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection at The Lilly Library
The Jerry Slocum Collection of Mechanical Puzzles embodies a lifetime pursuit of the intriguing and the perplexing. The result is a collection of over 35,000 mechanical puzzles from all over the world, in addition books and manuscripts on the subject.
The mechanical puzzles in the collection range from puzzles locks from the antiquity to innovative designs made with modern tools such as laser cutters and 3D printers. Learn about the different types of mechanical puzzles and the challenges each pose.
Puzzles from the hands-on collection will be at the booth for attendees to solve. Hear from the Lilly Library’s Curator of Puzzles about how puzzle designers develop their deviously difficult creations and maybe find a new idea for your next project.
What was once a one-person operation has grown into a small tight-knit group of engineers united under a common design ethos. They are dedicated to creating production-quality 3D printers you can assemble in your kitchen. It’s this passion and dedication that drive them to push the boundaries just a little further. They build space shuttles with gardening tools so anyone can have a space shuttle of their own. Come check them out at Makevention!
Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)
The SCA is a non-profit educational group focused on pre-1600s history. We recreate all aspects of historical life, from weaponry to home life, food and drink to blacksmithing. We love sharing our knowledge with others, and always love demonstrating what we know. This exhibit features the Shire of Mynydd Seren, which encompasses Bloomington. We will display historical armor and weaponry, fiber arts of all kinds, and demonstrate how to craft and fight like people from the Middle Ages.
Art Remains is a nonprofit organization specializing in creative reuse, located in Bloomington, Indiana. Come check out what kinds of treasures they have for sale or remake!
Joshua Diem will have books and art on sale at Makevention
A project within IU’s School of Education, the Uplands Maker Mobile aims to garner further conversation and interest in making for organizations, as well as offering unique programming options not typically available without a makerspace. Loaded with a full suite of maker tools (including 3D printers, laser cutters, Cricut machines, sewing machines, CNC routers and electronics, as well as hand tools, crafting and carpentry tools) the Uplands Maker Mobile brings making to schools and organizations through workshops with children or adults, development and training for professionals or teachers, or assisting with events and projects.
Discardia is about diverting materials from the landfill. We encourage mending clothes instead of throwing them away. We make clothing and accessories from repurposed materials. Our exhibit features beautiful totes made by Betty Davis using what some people might consider trash. Betty will be at the booth to demonstrate how she makes these totes. Makevention attendees will be invited to attend Discardia’s monthly Mending Day that happens on the second Saturday of the month, noon to 4:00pm at Monroe County Public Library on Kirkwood Avenue.
Society of Women Engineers – Central Indiana Section. SWE is a non-profit org for Women in STEM. They will have STEM activities for children at Makevention and info about the events we they for kids, as well as women in STEM, throughout the year.
Toasty Toads: Handmade Heating Packs
A booth selling handmade heating pads shaped like toads and frogs 🙂
Make, paint, and create with Pottery House Studio, Bloomington’s only pottery studio with a full range of services: classes, walk-in and glaze sessions, parties, kids camps, wheel throwing sessions, hand building, and more! Susan Snyder has been teaching pottery to adults and children for over 25 years! Come see what Pottery House has going on at Makevention!
Indiana University – IT Training will be at #Makevention providing information about how members of the community can utilize IT Training’s online software training courses. They will also have 3D printers running and different 3D printed objects on display.
FOOLS (Fraternal Order Of Lock Sport) – Teaching lock picking as a family friendly sport
Froggy Print Design – Maker of pretty, and occasionally useful objects out of wood, metal, and whatever may be at hand, transforming the mundane into something unique.
Circuit electronics – Come check out the Banana Piano and other circuitry creations!
Bloomington Parkour is a community driven parkour and freerunning club here in Bloomington, Indiana. They give free parkour lessons every Saturday at 3:00 and Wednesday at 10:00. They are a supportive and safe environment for learning this wonderful alternative fitness activity. All are welcome. There a focus is on using Parkour to make Bloomington fun, healthy, and inclusive. Come check out their parkour course at Makevention and give it a try!
Bloomington Center for Connection
Bloomington Center for Connection is an organization using Relational-Cultural Therapy (RCT) to promote social change through connection.
In Case of Emergency Press is a custom screen-printing shop founded circa 2009 and located in Bloomington, Indiana. In Case of Emergency Press is run by artists. They will be printing Makevention t-shirts outside of the Switchyard Pavilion! Bring your own shirt from home to add a Makevention print for free, or have a fresh one printed for you on site for $10! They will accept cash, credit card, paypal, venmo, cash app, and zelle.
Motorsport Enthusiast, Design aficionado, relentless optimist. These are a few words used to describe Andrew (Michael) Robertson. Born and raised just an hour from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michael spent his younger years working on cars, tinkering with scale models, and teaching himself how to draw. The constant roar of machinery encouraged a blossoming young man to enroll and achieve academic acknowledgment. Equipped with the technical skills, he continued a path of personal achievement now boasting more than 20 original vehicle designs. He has been featured in publications, on numerous social media pages, and is currently in multiple promising collaborations.
Want to exhibit at Makevention 2023? Whether you want to demonstrate your craft, show off your invention or maker services, or sell your creations, we have options for you to explore on our Exhibitors page.