Greg Pond — installation artist, hacker, filmmaker, musician and Associate Professor of Art at University of the South in Sewanee — will be conducting four maker workshops at the newly-minted Fort Houston in March. Fort Houston is the brand new creative space and community workshop at 500 Houston Street in Nashville, a joint project by the entities formerly known as Brick Factory and Zombieshop.

The new facility is located directly behind Chestnut Studios and a stone’s throw from the new Zeitgeist Gallery location (opening sometime in the next few months). Noa Noa house/Theatre Intangible headquarters is a short walk away. The neighborhood, which also houses Infinity Cat Records, United Records Pressing, and the new Cotten Music Center, is shaping up to be Nashville’s own little SoHo (which, fittingly, is short for SOuth of HOuston Street). Since our action is mostly north of Houston, we may have to go with NoHo.

Greg Pond’s classes will be among the first taught at the new facility. His classes are of special interest to those in the experimental music and maker communities because they highlight two of the most important technologies to impact art in the 10s: open source electronics prototyping and 3D printing. If you’re a new media or experimental artist who has never tinkered with an Arduino or printed your own designs in a 3D printer, take these classes!

Here are the class details. Learn more and buy tickets at FortHouston.com.

3D Modeling & Printing

Price: $120.00
Date: March 17, 2013, 10am to 4pm

This class will provide the foundations for using SketchUp CAD software to generate 3D models that can be printed on a Makerbot 3D printer. We will begin by learning to design 3D models in SketchUp, providing an overview of the basic tools, best practices for design and how to install program extensions called plugins. The second half of the class will focus on techniques for drawing models in SketchUp that can be output as physical plastic model. We will work through a series of exercises that will yield 3D prints for you to keep.

Beginner level course, no experience necessary

3D Printing Open Lab

Price: $30.00
Date: March 17, 2013, 5pm to 8pm

This session is open to anyone who has some basic experience making 3D models in any CAD software who wants to learn how to or refine their models for export and 3D printing. We will share projects, ideas and questions as well as work on individual projects. Participants should bring their own laptop computer with the CAD software of choice. This session is designed for those who have at least a basic working knowledge of their CAD software such as SketchUp, Rhino, SolidWorks, or Meshlab and want assistance with designing and refining objects for 3D printing. We will print objects from participants or demonstration models during this session.

Introduction to Arduino

Price: $120.00
Date: March 23, 2013, 10am to 4pm

In Introduction to Arduino, students will explore using Arduino, an open-source micro-controller that allows the user to create interactive machines, otherwise known as physical computing. Students will leave this class with a better understanding of Arduino and a set of tools and parts that can be used for any future projects. No prior experience is necessary for this class. All participants are required to bring their own laptop with the free Arduino software installed and ready to use.

NOTE: Registration will close 1 week prior to this class to make sure all materials are ordered and arrive on time. This does not apply to Arduino Lab or 3D Modeling & Printing.

Arduino Lab

Price: $30.00,
Date: March 23, 2013, 5pm to 8pm

For those of you wishing to take the next step your projects, this Arduino Lab session is the perfect opportunity to share/develop your concepts within a group. This class is for those individuals looking to expand their knowledge of Arduino. Learn to connect Arduino to Processing or Pure Data. Those who enroll will get to experiment with some equipment during the session (extra sensors, motor shields, etc.) and all participants will be happy to know this class is BYOB. If there is a specific topic or project you would like to learn more about during this session, it is a good idea to contact Greg Pond (gregpond@gmail.com) in advance in order to get the most out the lab session.