Tonight, MakerBot will host a very special MUGNY (MakerBot User Group NYC) meeting at the beautiful Marymount School Fifth Avenue Campus right across from the Met Museum, preceded by a RSVP-only walking tour through the Met with a handful of the artists who participated in the Met MakerBot Hackathon.

While the free Met Tour event is ”sold out” at this point, I do want to remind those who managed to reserve a ticket that the Walking Tour guests need to check in with me (Matt Griffin) on the left hand side of the Met lobby (near the Greek/Roman entrance) just before 5:30pm to get your Met pin and be ready for the tour to depart — promptly at 5:30pm.

Glenn Berry will be handling the check-in list at the Marymount School starting at 6:00pm across the street. After the Walking Tour rejoins the reception, MakerBot Operators, Thingiverse Makers, and the curious public will be treated to refreshments, snacks, the latest community show-and-tell, and inspiring keynote talks featuring the Met MakerBot Hackathon and the Capture Your Town project.

MakerBot User Group meetings are monthly meet ups where members of our world-wide community get together locally to share what they have been up to with their MakerBots. The events typically include a featured guest or keynote arranged beforehand, and tend to attract a large crowd of those from the general public as well as those actively involved with MakerBot and Thingiverse — all are welcome!

And here’s a sneak preview of the mini-master class in casting to be given tonight by 3D designer and jeweler Jason Bakutis. The work he is bringing will drop some jaws, and offer all of those curious about creating replicas of physical objects a few new routes for finishing!

This past weekend, Michael Curry and I verified that “everything is up to date in Kansas City” spending time at Hammerspace and Maker Faire Kansas City with the KC Fabricators MUG  and a bunch of the CCCKC crew. Well, we also got a chance to spend time with members of hackerspaces and makerspaces from all over the region, and have now embarked on a mini-tour to visit the home bases of handful of these great folks.

We are particularly aiming to connect with local MakerBot User Groups (MUGs) to introduce the Capture Your Town project — sharing tips and tricks from the field to help each group level up quickly and start sharing things they love about their towns on Thingiverse. Check the slideshow above for the latest snaps from our journey — and read below for chances to meet up with us on our travels this week!

ChiMUG CaptureSession — Chicago, IL — Monday, June 25th, 10am-1pm

Michael and I will be joining Mike Moceri, Tom Burtonwood, and other members of ChiMUG to hit the Art Institute of Chicago Museum and/or The Field Museum to perform some Chicago-focused Capture Your Town. This visit will be fast and furious: definitely an exciting day, all before lunchtime!

Milwaukee Makerspace — Milwaukee, WI — Monday, June 25th, 7pm-11pm

After completing the CaptureSession, Michael and I will head 2hrs north up to Milwaukee to spend an evening with the Milwaukee Makerspace crew sharing the MakerBot Replicators and printed objects we are bringing, and checking out this awesome space and community.

Sector67 — Madison, WI — Tuesday, June 26th, 6pm-8pm

Now, I’ve been excited about attending Sector67 for a couple of months now, after seeing images of Nathan Davis’s MakerBot/Arduino music project. We have heard that there are some awesome MakerBot Operators at this space and I certainly had a good time hanging out with members of this space in Kansas City. When they weren’t elbow (wrist?) deep into repairing their Power Racing Series vehicle, that is.

The Mill — Minneapolis, MN — Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm-8pm

Our first stop in Minneapolis is The Mill, a new educational industrial arts/maker space. The rumor on the streets of Maker Faire KC are that a gaggle of educators will be racing over to join us at The Mill for The Replicator demo as well as to learn about MakerBot’s curriculum resources and opportunities for the classroom. Also, there are a bunch of MakerBot Operators who orbit around this space: I’m looking forward to meeting them!

Hack Factory — Minneapolis, MN — Wednesday, June 27th, 8:30pm-11pm

After hanging out at The Mill, join us for “hacker hours” (i.e. late!) with Twin Cities Maker @ the Hack Factory for BBQ, beer, and all sorts of project show-and-tell and socializing. TC Maker has had MakerBots since the early days so I am looking forward to checking out what sort of 3D printing activity is going on here — and to see who’s running their MakerBots lately!

People who subscribe to our newsletter (check the top right corner of this blog to sign up!), already know that what we’re doing at the Met today is the start of something huge. Like, super huge. The size of the Earth, and we’re putting all of it on Thingiverse.

Or rather, you’re putting it on Thingiverse!

Today is the beginning of the MakerBot Capture Your Town initiative. Just like the artists at the Met this weekend are using their cameras to pick out amazing pieces of art to photograph and process with 123D Catch, you can find the things where you live that make it your home. Maybe it’s an old water fountain in the park, or the office building you drive to every day, or your City Hall, or a statue, or your cat. Maybe it’s a model of the Waldo Emerson Inn in Kennebunk, Maine, that I noticed on Tinkercad yesterday.¹

Or this awesome Arch, already on Thingiverse.

This is everyone’s chance – my chance, your chance, your grandma’s chance – to realize that we are living in a time where the limits on what we can do with the things around us are dropping like flies. Even if you don’t own a MakerBot, you can contribute to the museum of the future, or #futuremuseum on twitter, that Thingiverse is becoming.

All you need is your camera, a steady hand, and the free software 123D Catch from Autodesk.

Let’s build a map of the world that the MakerBot Community lives in, starting with your town. Watch this blog and our twitter for updates and guidance. Once you are ready to share your models, be sure to tag it on twitter (#futuremuseum) and on Thingiverse (futuremuseum). Get your gears turning and go!

1. Hey, did anyone notice you can now embed things from Tinkercad?! [↩]