The Blugold Makerspace recently proposed a plan to the Student Office of Sustainability (SOS) to create a new event called the “Repair Fair.” This event would be hosted by the Makerspace with hopes to be held in one of the large ballrooms in the Davies Center.
The proposal meeting for this event took place on Oct. 30 and the decision from the SOS will follow soon. The current plan is to hold this event in spring — either April 5 or April 12, 2025.
The Makerspace also recently received a $4000 grant from Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS). The majority of this grant will go to the Repair Fair, provided the plan is approved.
Jenna Vande Zande works for the User Services and Outreach department at McIntyre library and also runs events in the Blugold Makerspace, such as Mending Mondays and equipment autopsies.
Vande Zande and the other people that run events in the Makerspace heard continuous questions about repairing certain items, some of which they could, but many were beyond their expertise, according to Vande Zande.
“We’re that middle ground where people can come and just explore with us, use something they know how to use or something and try before they buy their own,” Vande Zande said. “Some people are like ‘I always wanted to try this but it’s kind of crazy to get into,’ so come and use ours and see if you like it.”
This request from participants led to the idea of the Repair Fair. The individuals that run the Makerspace worked together to come up with the idea and began planning in April of 2024. Vande Zande became the figurehead for the project. The goal is to now get approved by the SOS.
Vande Zande also points out that UW-Eau Claire is unique in the sense that it is the only UW school that has a maker space that is open to all majors. While other schools have certain opportunities for particular majors, like nursing or computer science, an open space such as this is special, according to Vande Zande.
“We really believe in the ‘library is a laboratory.’ The whole point of a library is for people, all people, to come and explore,” Vande Zande said. “Whether it’s research, creating, fixing, whatever. And the Makerspace was part of the reason we did that.”
Another key component of the event is bringing the community together, according to Vande Zande. The official proposal to the SOS points precisely to this.
“Our vision is to create a fun and practical event that further brings our university and area communities together in the shared mission of repairing, reusing, and practicing sustainability,” reads the proposal.
Local businesses such as “Sew Complete” and “Ziggy’s Vacuum Service” have already agreed to participate in this event and the Makerspace is working on finding more businesses to participate, as well as student organizations.
Mindfulness is a value that Vande Zande said she hopes to instill in students through this event. Teaching people about how things can be repaired is the start to a more thoughtful future and asking questions is a natural part of that progression, according to Vande Zande.
“What does it take to clean something? What does it take to repair? What happens in the end when it doesn’t work anymore? Where does it go? These bigger questions that start surrounding people as they walk into the grocery store or walk into a shop, I think that is going to be the bigger impact,” Vande Zande said.
She also mentioned the blue boxes used for meals in the Davies Center and Riverview Cafe and the profound impact that this simple change has made to reduce the amount of campus waste.
“I think that the campus as a whole thinking about these kinds of things on a broad scale and affecting everybody is amazing. It’s truly amazing,” Vande Zande said.
The Repair Fair hopes to be an event that sparks change in Eau Claire and spreads throughout the Midwest by teaching valuable skills and building understanding of how personal choices make an impact throughout the community.
DeGear can be reached at [email protected].
