Saturday 31 October 2015

Photographer Whimsically Augments Reality with Papercuts | Make:

Arc_de_Triomphe_ParisBritish photographer Paperboyo uses papercuts and forced perspective to make humorous and whimsical comments on the world's landmarks.

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Add a Simple Circuit Breathing LED Effect to Your Pumpkin

blinkpumpkinCreate a cool, breathing LED lighting effect for your Halloween pumpkin using an analog circuit. No microcontroller required!

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Friday 30 October 2015

Friday Linkubator Roundup | October 23 – 29

The weather is windy and chilly. The end of Daylight Savings Time looms. So, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a book and cider or hot chocolate, or to knit a scarf in the makerspace.

Are you ready to bookmark? We’ve got some great links.

New features:

  • Dancers Romel Frometa & Abigail Morwood. Photography by Jennifer Denham.

    Dancers Romel Frometa & Abigail Morwood. Photography by Jennifer Denham.

    Ballet and books seem like a very good combination to me. Ballet at the Barre is what you get when of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and Cincinnati Ballet do a pas de deux. (See what I did there?)

  • The 700s in the Dewey Decimal System signify art, so it’s only fitting that they have their own art festival. At the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

 

Fun stuff:

And that’s all folks! Have a great spooky weekend!

 



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Exclusive Interview: Meet Dr. Dava Newman, Deputy Administrator of NASA

this-new-form-fitting-spacesuit-could-revolutionize-how-astronauts-move-in-spaceI had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Newman before the Tested Live Show last week in San Francisco to talk about the Maker Movement, The Martian, and the importance of olive oil.

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Artist Creates Outrageously Detailed, Beautiful Papercraft Microbes

microbe_9A wondrous microscopic world is brought to light in painstakingly rendered papercraft sculptures.

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12 More 3D Print Projects for Halloween

Creepy prints for halloween: Zombie Cup of doomBust out the 3D printer for these creepy last-minute Halloween decorations.

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Learn Arduino at Makers Local 256 Public Night!

This coming Tuesday (Nov 3) at 7:00 PM, we have some amazing people from YourDuino.com coming by Makers Local 256 to give a presentation/demo/Q&A on Arduino microcontrollers and embedded electronics in general. They’re touring around the Southeast and ML256 is one of the many places they chose to stop by!

Their main objective is to talk to people about Arduino and what you can do with it. They’ll have some kits and parts available during and after the presentation, so if you don’t have an Arduino (or two) already, you can pick one up then. They’ll be showing off a neat display of a few different Arduino projects and circuits, so it should be interesting and fun!

They’ll be going through the entire process of designing, connecting, and coding up a simple Arduino project from start to finish. If you have any questions about your own project, they would love to discuss ideas and give help where they can.

There’s no cost to attend the presentation, but they will have parts available for sale if you need them. Anyone is welcome to attend!



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Cleveland’s Thinkbox Is a Big Bet on University Makerspaces

Tool organizer at think[box]Earlier this week Case Western Reserve University unveiled thinkbox, their new seven-story makerspace in Cleveland, Ohio. A local high school follows their lead with their own makerspace in the works.

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Easy No-Carve Pumpkin Idea: Star Wars BB-8

Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 2.54.23 PMSee how one Maker created a BB-8 from a pumpkin, a soda bottle, and some papier-mâché.

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Make the Most Adorable Praying Mantis Costume Ever

Zoe modeling her costumeThe phrase "cute as a bug" finally makes sense! Learn how Zoe and her mom made this amazing praying mantis costume.

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Make a Transformers’ Soundwave Costume from Cardboard

IMG_2542Make this cardboard Transformers costume — no paint necessary, all the color is added with adhesive shelf liners and duct tape.

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Learn How to Make Gears by Building a Ghost-Go-Round

ghost-mobileBuilding this spooky, spinning ghost mobile is a great way to learn how to make gears and get into the Halloween spirit.

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Paparazzi Bots to Follow You Like a Celeb at Maker Faire Ottawa

mfo street posterOttawa will soon be home to the first featured Maker Faire in Canada. Join in the fun and see what the Canadian Maker Movement has to offer.

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Thursday 29 October 2015

Microsoft Announces Windows IoT Support for Arduino and DragonBoard

Windows IoT core was designed to easily integrate into SBCs and other small form-factor DEV boards.Microsoft is getting their latest OS into the Maker scene through SBC integration. Their latest update adds support for Arduino and Dragonboard.

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Turning a Tape Gun Into a Prototyping Machine

piper_1Researchers at a German computer lab create a real-world wireframe graphics printer out of a packing tape gun.

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Magic Wand Flashlight

mainThis year for Halloween my son wanted to be a wizard. To go with his costume, I made him a flashlight wand that's turned on with a magnetic reed switch.

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Arduino Basics: Add Pulsing LED Eyes to Halloween Props

Screen Shot 2015-10-28 at 10.36.16 AMLEDs are the perfect touch to add a creepy red glow to your Halloween props. Make them fade in and out with a simple Arduino sketch.

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Bookmark This Now: The Best 3D Printing Troubleshooting Guide

simpThis troubleshooting guide is a must-have resource for any 3D printer.

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Learn Mold Making Basics for Jewelry

With these basic mold making skills you can create wax copies of your handmade jewelry for lost wax casting.

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Just a Skeleton Swinging by Itself on Your Lawn

swinging skeletonA skeleton on a swing is one thing, but a skeleton that can swing all by itself is a truly worthy Maker's Halloween project.

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Ballet at the Barre at the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

Today’s feature comes to us from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County in Ohio, with their fantastic partnership program, Ballet at the Barre, which is a collaboration between the library and the Cincinnati Ballet. Enjoy! ~Laura

by Angela Hursh
Marketing Department, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

Ballet at the Barre is an adventurous new partnership of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and Cincinnati Ballet. Merging our Library’s vision to connect people to the world of ideas and information with the Ballet’s belief that collaboration ignites new possibilities, we plan to explore Cincinnati Ballet’s rehearsal space in a historic building in Cincinnati’s urban Over-The-Rhine neighborhood.

Ballet at the Barre kicks off on Sept. 30, when guests view a rehearsal of the Ballet in preparation of their upcoming performance Lady of the Camellias. After viewing rehearsal, we discuss the book The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan while enjoying refreshments. We plan to continue our partnership with future events to include rehearsal viewings, book discussions—and especially alluring—we will feature speakers from the artistic staff of the Ballet to explore the artistry of the Ballet.

Below, photographs from the Cincinnati Ballet’s recent show, New Works.

Dancers Romel Frometa & Abigail Morwood. Photography by Jennifer Denham. Dancers Romel Frometa & Abigail Morwood. Photography by Jennifer Denham. Dancers Romel Frometa & Abigail Morwood. Photography by Jennifer Denham.

Future speakers could be the Artistic Director, the Music Director, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer, and the performers themselves. This new partnership celebrates Cincinnati Ballet’s vision to inspire hope and joy in our community and beyond through the power and passion of dance. 



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Acrylic Cheat Sheet: How to Cut, Glue, Bend, and More

bendingLearn about the types of acrylic and the best practices for using it so that you can make the most of this material in your projects.

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Wednesday 28 October 2015

Reimagining the Carnival: Two Bit Circus Raises $6.5 Million

TwoBit1Technology performance group Two Bit Circus raises $6.5 million to expand their STEAM Carnival and develop content for VR.

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10 Imaginative Bottle Openers Made from Old Tools

#9 Saw OpenerIn celebration of National American Beer Day, master maker Jimmy DiResta improvises 10 bottle openers from old tools.

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Element14 to Offer Raspberry Pi Customization for Bulk Orders

Customization suggestions from Element14Raspberry Pi announced a program to customize boards for bulk orders with Element14, who will help engineer and manufacture your custom design.

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Power Paper Circuits with Static Electricity

RubbingNo battery needed! You can make simple paper circuits run on static electricity!

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22 Blackpitts – 360 Views

A lot of you have been asking for more information on our new space. It seems like the address is not enough for you. Check out these awesome 360 views of the new space.

Main Room

Loading Bay

Kitchen

Entrance Hall:


Front



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Build an Elegant, Simple Side Table from 2×4s

10-IMG_3668aBring your woodworking skills up to snuff with this easy-to-build table made from 2×4s.

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$500,000 Challenge: Build Projects to Help ALS Communication

Eyewriter DIY eye tracking device. Image courtesy of Eyewriter.orgThe ALS communication challenge has $500,000 to invest in communication technologies for those suffering from paralysis.

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Hide an Arcade Machine in Your Coffee Table

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 2.58.08 PMThis unassuming coffee table transforms into a tabletop arcade machine with just a touch of a button.

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Space Jam Will Give Your Toast a Galaxy of Flavor

SpaceJamWhat do you get when you mix blueberry preserves with edible glitter? That’s right, space jam!

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700s Arts Festival at RMIT University Library

RMIT University in Sydney, Australia gets serious bonus points from the LAIP on the name of their fabulous arts festival, which is deliciously library-nerdy: the 700s Arts Festival! This late night kickoff event and ongoing celebration of the arts in the library is an inspiration for academic and public libraries alike, and reveals how one can make the most of the “temporary spaces” generated during a library renovation. ~Laura

By Adam Browne and Doreen Sullivan

On 13 August this year, RMIT University Library wasn’t as quiet as you’d expect a library to be – and strangely, the librarians weren’t doing anything to keep the noise down. In fact, they were contributing to it.

It was the launch of the 700s Arts Festival.

The party was an extravagant night to open an extravagant event. It was a spectacle, a hoot. The Library almost didn’t recognise itself. A crowd of 300 filled the normally hushed spaces, sampling vegan canapés and cheerful tipples, enjoying performances and chuckling at the witty talk on “The Art of Browsing (and the Browsing of Art)’ from Professor Paul Gough–all of this presided over by a giant dewy-eyed mural of Melvil Dewey.

"Dewey" by Simon Mazzei.

“Dewey” by Simon Mazzei.

The celebration was well-deserved. The Festival was characterised as a sort of pop-up event, and was the result of a short period of intensive organisation and labour, where talented and passionate people around the University had rolled up their sleeves to create something both beautiful and inspiring.

As the name suggests, the 700s Arts Festival was a celebration of the 700s of the Dewey Decimal System–the largest part of the collection at RMIT Swanston Library, a fascinating place to browse–and our way of embracing the temporary spaces made available through preparations for the current renovations, known as the Swanston Library Transformation.

There were art exhibitions, among them ‘Art against the Grain’, curated by RMIT Gallery–a rare opportunity to see some of the prestigious art the gallery owns. ‘Grazing the 700s’ had works from students and staff of RMIT School of Art, and ‘Referencing Artists’ featured art by students, alumni, and staff; this show surprised many with its first-class works by library staff, a demonstration of how talented librarians so often are.

"Library Artefacts" by Georgina Matherson. Described as ‘objects associated with the Library whose roles have become antiquated, get their portraits taken’ – this old sticky tape holder, this outdated date stamp, this electric fan and foot stool and their friends… How dutifully they sit for their portraits, not quite understanding that they’re obsolete.

“Library Artefacts” by Georgina Matherson. Described as ‘objects associated with the Library whose roles have become antiquated, get their portraits taken’ – this old sticky tape holder, this outdated date stamp, this electric fan and foot stool and their friends… How dutifully they sit for their portraits, not quite understanding that they’re obsolete.

Close-up: Kick stool from "Library Artefacts." Close-up: Library stamps from "Library Artefacts." Close-up: Megaphone from "Library Artefacts."

There was a Screen Arts programme, digital media and a workshop in direct 16mm film animation. There was a practical class on collage, and another on ‘designing hypersounds for ultradirectional, parametric loudspeakers’; there was a session on cartooning from the respected graphic novelist Mandy Ord; and a workshop run by Simmone Howell, a novelist and feature article writer.

Mandy Ord (featured) continues to share her generosity with students after her workshop.

Mandy Ord (featured) continues to share her generosity with students after her workshop.

There was art everywhere, wherever you turned. In all, 150 people contributed to the Festival. In this alone, it was a triumph, bringing various schools and people together, and making the Library into a vibrant hub of the arts.

Officially, the Festival ended on 25 September, but continues to fizz and spark in the form of the 700s Arts Festival Zine, currently being edited by Simmone Howell.

And as generally happens when something is a big success, there’s talk of doing it all again.

The follow-up event will be a consultative workshop that draws upon what we achieved and asked what else might we like to consider, especially in our fancy new Library.

Is another Dewey number on our radar? The 020s? The AV section? The Folios or the databases?

We’ll have to wait and see.

So how did we go about it? Here’s some insight from Amanda Kerley, who directed the festivities and is from the Library’s communications team.

How and why did the idea for the Festival arise?

Well, it began with a problem: we were facing the possibility of big empty spaces in the Library, for two months between the relocation of parts of our collection and when renovations were to begin. The University Librarian, Craig Anderson, and I discussed ways to utilise this space in a meaningful way for students. The first priority was maximising seating – so the Library brought in as much disused furniture as we could locate. The second priority was making it a comfortable and attractive study environment. This is where the idea of a temporary exhibitions came from,  which also sits nicely with one of the communications team’s objectives: to promote and engage users with our collections.

Mick Douglas LIbrary Returns

Our University has a strong arts, design, media and architecture focus and our collection analyses have shown these students are heavy browsers; it’s often a part of their arts practice and research methodology. So when we had to relocate low-use parts of our physical collections, we made sure browsing data was considered in assessing the use of our 700s, which our now our largest onsite section. And so, a quip in response to this fact: “let’s have a festival of the 700s!” very soon became a reality.

So what happened between the quip and the festival: how was it implemented?

With the generosity of a lot enthusiastic and talented people!  As well as engaging people with the Library, we saw this as an opportunity to foster relationships across the University and to also experiment with ideas we might like to develop further in the future: for example creative workshops allowed us to consult with students about the concept of makerspaces, something we are considering for the new Library. We’ve also noted the Library provides significant – and unofficial – pastoral care to students; it’s a space in which many students feel guided and supported. Conversations at the workshops allowed us to further consider this phenomenon.

So to achieve this, we first needed to the secure the support of Library managers, by first demonstrating how the festival addressed the Library’s strategic objectives and then by also demonstrating how it would be achievable. A staffing plan was needed and while the communications team was driving the festival, we’re very small, so we created secondments of staff from other Library units to work on discrete parts of the Festival such as exhibitions coordination and opening night coordination.

Louise Forthun

Next we cast a wide net across the University, asking for participation in exhibitions and the presentation of talks and workshops that we would host, program and promote: we were amazed and overwhelmed by the response!  A lecturer from the art school, Phil Edwards, curated an entire exhibition of student and staff works. We also benefitted by established relationships Library staff had across the University and within the arts. For example, Susan Wyers, who coordinated the exhibitions and also curated one of the art shows, shared her extensive professional network which ensured a strong representation of the artworks of alumni.

We were so overwhelmed by interest that we were then faced with an unexpected dilemma: how to facilitate this level of participation. It didn’t take long to fill the empty spaces of the Library with art, but it did take a lot of work to coordinate this amount of interest.  Of course we eventually had to decline works and in some cases this was due to our technical limitations: we weren’t very well equipped to exhibit projection and sound based works, but because we didn’t want to lose the opportunity to engage with people who had approached us, we tried to find other ways for them to participate, by inviting them to give workshops or participate in our consultative events to learn what we’d need to do to be technically prepared in the future.

Detail from Nicola Hardy's collage at Kim Handley's Homage to John Baldessari workshop.

Detail from Nicola Hardy’s collage at Kim Handley’s Homage to John Baldessari workshop.

How did Library users respond to having that much art in the Library?

From our surveys and conversations, we discovered most students were very enthusiastic about artworks in the Library. A significant trend was the comment that studying amongst art was an inspiration and that it stimulated their thoughts. The only repeated concern was that some artworks obscured access to powerpoints desired for charging laptops. One person was a little exasperated because they had been distracted from their study by the allure of the artworks!

What are your five top tips for people interested in running something similar?

  1. Work within a framework of scalability: identify what, for you, are acceptable minimum, medium and maximum goals and be satisfied with meeting any of them.
  2. Secure the participation of someone your community holds in high regard early on, and let their participation be known to others you are approaching: this kind of endorsement is very persuasive!
  3. Break up the larger project into self-contained tasks different staff members can be responsible for.
  4. Make time to clearly align your activities to the objectives of your library. This helps you to remind yourself ,and others, that even if it a new and experimental approach to library engagement, it is still a part of core business.
  5. Enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to experiment in a structured way (remember experimentation is a respectable component of research and development) and use your findings to inform future endeavours.

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Tuesday 27 October 2015

I want your aluminum

If anyone has aluminum that you would be willing to donate to our aluminum pour please bring to maker space, drop off in foundry area and notify me!

The foundry Gods thank you.

 

Kayla Schroeder

414.429.1731



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3D Print a Motorized Star Wars AT-AT

motoATAT_2A maker creates an almost entirely 3D printable AT-AT walker from Star Wars and shares the files.

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Artist Turns Gallery into Repair Shop

IMG_7521In a pop-up repair shop in a DC gallery, an artist gives "broken" objects new life as art pieces.

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Let This Helmet with a Robot Arm (Sorta) Brush Your Teeth

Toothbrush Helmet GIFMaker Simone Giertz creates a ridiculous, impractical, yet awesome motorized helmet that brushes her teeth. Sorta.

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Comment to Win: What Would You Make with a Swarovski Crystal Sampler?

DSC_0573We have a box of Swarovski crystal samples here at the Make: office, and we can't wait to give it to a Maker who can build something amazing with them.

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Discovering the Whitefriars collection at the Rakow Research Library

The Corning Museum Of Glass is a special place where librarians, curators, artists, and educators all work together to share the history and craft of glass making. Rebecca Hopman’s series on her work at the CMOG’s Rakow Research Library is an excellent template for creating and sustaining the library-as-incubator. Enjoy! ~Erinn

Discovering the Whitefriars collection at the Rakow Research Library

by Rebecca Hopman

A team at the Rakow Research Library has taken on a project of, let us say, towering proportions. The Discovering the Whitefriars Collection project’s goal is to develop a cost-effective method to conserve, digitize, and offer public access to oversized artwork and documents. Our large-format collection of choice, the Whitefriars stained glass cartoon collection, contains an estimated 10,000 design drawings and stained glass cartoons (working drawings) created by James Powell & Sons (a.k.a. Whitefriars Glass). The cartoons were used to created stained glass windows, and most of them were drawn to full scale – up to 20 feet in length. 20-foot drawings are generally hard to miss, but this was a hidden collection. How could we bring these drawings to light?

20-foot drawings are generally hard to miss, but this was a hidden collection. How could we bring these drawings to light?

october9

Whitefriars cartoons come in all sizes, but mostly XXL!

Our challenge began back in 2008, when the collection made its way through our doors. But first, a quick detour. Whitefriars, a London glass company whose origins date to the 17th century, was founded on the site of a former monastery south of Fleet Street. The monastery was occupied by a Carmelite order of monks popularly known as the White Friars, due to the snowy mantels they donned on formal occasions. Long after the monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII, a small glasshouse opened for business. Years later, in 1834, James Powell purchased the company and expanded its operations. Whitefriars made many types of glass including tableware, ornamental glass, and scientific glass, but they were best known for their stained glass windows. Called “the most enduring and successful glasshouse in Britain” by the Museum of London, Whitefriars completed hundreds of stained glass installations in thirty-eight countries around the world.

Detail from a cartoon for a stained glass window in the Solomon Islands. Detail from a cartoon for a stained glass window in Saint Thomas Church, NYC. Detail from a cartoon of Saint Francis for a stained glass window in Johannesburg, South Africa.

So how did the cartoons from this notable British company end up in upstate New York? When the company closed in 1980, their archives were split between the Museum of London and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Several decades later, the Museum of London generously gifted part of its collection – 1,800 rolls of cartoons and drawings – to the Rakow Library. As an archivist, I’m generally a fan of collections sticking together, but it seems fitting that this company’s records live on in museums dedicated to London, the decorative arts, and glass. Each provides a home (and a different perspective) to the remarkable work done by Whitefriars.

As an archivist, I’m generally a fan of collections sticking together, but it seems fitting that this company’s records live on in museums dedicated to London, the decorative arts, and glass. Each provides a home (and a different perspective) to the remarkable work done by Whitefriars.

Back to our project. The collection came to us in thick, tight rolls, dirty from use on the factory floor and decades of storage. The cartoons, too brittle to unroll safely, were inaccessible to staff and researchers. To care for this collection, we needed a major plan of action. We couldn’t afford to have each of the 10,000 items conserved individually, so we needed to develop an economical solution that could be carried out onsite. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded our library a National Leadership planning grant to create and test such a method. We partnered with the Museum of London and West Lake Conservators, each of whom brought necessary expertise to the table. And so, in December 2014, we set out to discover our collection.

All of these cartoons were packed into one roll. These cartoons were working drawings, and were often well-handled. You can see evidence of their use from the tape, dirt, marks, and tears.

We selected 15 rolls representing local and international connections, with work by a number of Whitefriars’ top designers. We set up a conservation lab with a humidification chamber, and hired two conservation interns, Nicole and Natasa, to humidify, clean, and flatten the cartoons, mending tears where necessary. They worked hard from late May through early August, and left us with 100 conserved cartoons. Late September brought our digitization team, Boston Photo Imaging, to town; they set their cameras up in the same lab that had recently held conservation equipment (and Beyoncé). Many of the cartoons were so large they required multiple photographs, which will be stitched together to create images of the full cartoons.

Nicole Monjeau, one of our summer conservation interns, works on a cartoon. Natasa Krsmanovic, our other conservation intern, erases residue from a cartoon.

In the meantime, the project team is finishing the final phase of the grant and tying up loose ends. Our plan, moving forward, is to continue conserving and digitizing the collection. With the help of our Digital Department, we will create an interactive website featuring our digitized cartoons and drawings, the Museum of London’s Whitefriars presentation drawings, and crowdsourced images of the executed windows. We want to bring the stained glass design process to life, and connect communities with Whitefriars windows around the world. So keep an eye out for a little White Friar in your local stained glass windows – his cartoon might just be in our stacks.

october8

Whitefriars often signed their windows with little white monks – look for this and other artist and company signatures in the corners of stained glass windows.

More More!

See photos and posts from the project so far, and follow our #WhitefriarsWednesday updates (also on Twitter and tumblr).

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (#LG-55-14-0110-14).

 

profilepic_hopmanRebecca Hopman is the Outreach Librarian at The Rakow Research Library of The Corning Museum of Glass. She has worked in a number of libraries and archives since 2005 and received her MLS from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2012. When she’s not at the library, you might find her embroidering, writing snail mail, or cheering on the Chicago Cubs. Follow her on tumblrextabulis.tumblr.com.



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