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Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!
A space for sharing tools and knowledge to make stuff
Bloominglabs is Indiana's first hackerspace (also known as a makerspace). We are a group of group of people who have rented a shared workshop where we can build projects both collectively and individually. Our space is located at 1840 S. Walnut Street. We are open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm, and for a trial period, Saturdays from 1pm until 5pm, and are family friendly.
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Stay informed
- Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
- New! We have a discuss mailing list now.
- Our Calendar of events
- Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabs, Facebook, Google+, and Instagram.
- Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
- Our IRC server is at bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
- We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.
- Send us email to get an invite to our Slack site.
- Send mail to P.O. Box 2443, Bloomington, IN 47402
Support
Bloominglabs Incorporated is a non-profit registered within in the state of Indiana and has 501(c)3 charitable status. Want to make a donation with PayPal? Please use this link:
- (Note to members - this link should not be used for paying membership dues)
Also, we have an Amazon Smile Account For Bloominglabs. If you use that link to place an order on Amazon, we get a little cut. Thanks!
Information for our members: this is how we process cash and hardware Donations.
Current Events (PastEvents)
- Makevention!
- Our annual celebration of local makers
- August 25, from 10am until 4pm at the Monroe Convention Center
- Bring your belt sander to race!
- New this year: presentations and workshops
- Learn how to solder, crochet, make chainmail, and more!
- Learn about the re-creation of the Howe Horseless Carriage
- Get hands-on with soap, puzzles, locks, lasers, and robots
- Fun for all ages and degrees of nerdery
- Check out more at http://makevention.org
- Public Hack Meetings!
- Every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm
- Saturdays in August from 1pm until 5pm
- Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
- All ages and everyone is welcome
Workshops
All workshops are for age 12 and older unless otherwise specified. Parents must come inside to fill out a minor liability waiver for children under 18 (unless previously filled out). Some workshops have limited seats available, see descriptions for details.
Essential Oils Workshop
December 8th
Cost: $15 for members, $20 for non-members
Time: 2pm - 3pm
Description: Learn how to make your own essential oil body care products.
Nabors Holistic (Jessica Nabors) will be leading a class where you learn the science behind how essential oils can support a healthy lifestyle. You will also learn how to make 3 of your own body care products, which can save you money in the future. This would also be an excellent opportunity to use what you learn to create awesome, non-toxic Christmas gifts. The cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. There are only 10 spots available for this workshop, so sign up quick as it will fill up fast!
Previous workshops
Halloween Workshop: Freaky Felting
October 23
Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Description: Spooky, stabbity, squishy fiber mutilation mayhem!
Stab together some wool into ghosts, ghouls, and Great Pumpkins. Learn the art of avoiding stabbing yourself in the hand with a barbed needle while making an awesome decoration for Samhain, All Hallows Eve, or that most festive of holidays, The Last Day of October.
This workshop will run for approximately 2 hours, costs $15, and includes project materials.
The streets will flow with the blood of needle felters!
Make a Plant Tower
November 18th
Cost: $40 for members, $50 for non-members
Time: 1 pm - 4 pm
Description: Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants. Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube within a 3 hour class.
Current Initiatives
- Space Improvements
- Tool and workspace arrangement
Membership
We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details. If you are a new member please check out the New Members page as well.
Meetings
Currently we meet every Wednesday at 7:00pm at 1840 S. Walnut Street, Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public; anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.
- Meeting_Minutes
- Bloominglabs Log - highlights of Bloominglabs events and news
Who are we?
We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us. Expression of this interest takes at least as many forms as we have members, and often employs an amalgam of found and newly-constructed hardware and/or open-source and self-authored software components, but may be as simple as screwing some pieces of wood together to make a useful tool we don't have yet.
Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club.
- Read our Bylaws for a more formalized overview
What is a hackerspace?
A hackerspace is a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also an incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.
Nearby Hackerspaces/Makerspace or initiatives:
- Cyberia (Indianapolis, Indiana!)
- Castlemakers (Greencastle, Indiana)
- The SHAK (Kokomo, Indiana)
- Hive13 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- LVL1 (Louisville, Kentucky)
-
Vault404 (Louisville, Kentucky) -
Collexion (Lexington, Kentucky)All that remains is a discussion list. - Pumping Station: One (Chicago, Illinois)
- Dayton Diode (Dayton, Ohio)
-
Detroit FacilityMerged with i3 Detroit - i3 Detroit (Detroit, Michigan)
-
Makerspace Goshen (Goshen, Indiana) - Kre8now (Lexington, Kentucky)
- The MakerHive (Elkhart, Indiana)
Other Cool Groups in Bloomington
- Indiana Filmmakers Network -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
- Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
- Indiana University Amateur Radio Club
- IU Makes
-
Bloomington personal Fabrication Group (IU 3D Printing Club)(no longer meeting) - also a trac hostedhere - The annual Hoosier to Hoosier event (resale trail)
- Discardia
- Press (jigsaw) Puzzles