On June 11, a small but determined crew traveled to Truckee, Ca. to host the Robot Rumble for attendees at the Truckee Roundhouse Maker Show, for the second time. Radio-controlled robots made of Obtainium, are built, battle in the ring, are usually destroyed and eventually rebuilt to fight again.
2022-11-06 The Mad Hatter Parade Returns!
It’s back! The Mad Hatter Holiday Festival Returns to Vallejo! Going strong since 2010 (with a little disruption from the plague).
Saturday, December 3rd: Obtainium Works and its fellow art car builders will be gathering to showcase the most whimsical Holiday Parade in California, right down Georgia street in downtown Vallejo, CA!
Here is the schedule:
2:00pm: Wonderland Festival Activities -- including dancing horses, craft & food vendors & children's rides in Unity Plaza at the JFK Library.
4:30pm: Mad Hatter Parade starts (Georgia St and Sonoma Blvd).
6:00pm: The Tree Lighting Ceremony at the JFK Library.
6:30pm: Lighted Boat Parade on the Napa River.
2021-11-01 See the US Capitol Tree with us!
Link: https://aplustree.com/capitoltree/
An annual tradition since 1970, a tree is chosen from a national forest to become the official Holiday tree in front of the US Capitol!
This year, the tree is coming from Six Rivers National Forest on the North Coast of California and touring across the US before it reaches Washington DC.
Obtainium Works will be participating in the Vallejo festivities with the appearance of Santa Claus on our Rocket Sled! Event Details:
DATE: Monday, November 1st
TIME: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Grand entrance @ 3PM (Don’t miss it!)
COST: Free
LOCATION: Vallejo Ferry Terminal
289 Mare Island Way
Vallejo, CA 94590
2021-09-01 YouTube Channel!
So we finally got off our duffs and created a YouTube Channel:
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1aqJJL-3HDklPgShnGg5hA>
Here you will find original content, plus links to dozens of other people’s YouTube channels that feature the Obtainium Works, the Neverwas Haul, and our various other contraptions and adventures!
This supplements our Facebook groups:
Neverwas Haul Traveling Academy: <https://www.facebook.com/groups/235614337347>
and
Obtainium Works: <https://www.facebook.com/ObtainiumWorks>
Check them out and be amused! Better yet, why not donate?
<https://www.obtainiumworks.net/donations>
2021: The Neverwas Haul's Triumpant Return
The Neverwas Haul is on display for four months at the Mare Island Art Yard on Mare Island in Vallejo at 850 Nimitz Ave on the waterfront next to the Mare Island Brewing Company.
We've been commissioned by the Southern Land Company and Nimitz Group to provide a temporary art installation curated by Tari and Sage Loring of Local Edition Creative along with 2 other artists, including our friend, Karen Cusolito. See the link - Local Edition Creative — Mare Island Art Yard.
The Neverwas Haul is on display whenever the Mare Island Brewing Company is open and is available for tours on Sundays from 12pm-4pm during the Wet Mile, an opportunity to tour the waterfront and visit an artisan brewery, a distillery, artists studios, wineries and museums. The Haul will also be open during some of the events planned on the waterfront this year. See THE WET MILE - Home for more information.
2020-03-29 Obtainium Update
2020-03-22 Obtainium Update
Tour of Obtainium Works Renovations!
Media Coverage of 2019 How Weird Street Faire
“Keep San Francisco Weird” is the unofficial motto of the Annual San Francisco How Weird Street Faire. This Year, Obtainium Works was invited to bring Steampunks and some contraptions to the event, which is both the 20th anniversary and has a “Time Warp: A Love Story” (1880’s meets 1980’s) theme. Participating in the event is the new UFO art car, Grego’s Airship, the Flying Broom, and the Rhinoceros beetle.
San Francisco Chronicle: ‘We’re a weird city’: SF street festival celebrates oddity
More Events for May 2019!
Just in case we we weren’t busy enough, here are more events coming up:
Saturday, April 27 - 10am-4pm: STEAM Discovery Festival at Benicia High School in Benicia (https://steamdiscoveryfestival.com/). Contraptions: Rocket Sled, Rhino Beetle and Flying Broom.
Sunday, May 5, 12pm-4:30pm: How Weird Street Faire in San Francisco (https://howweird.org/). Contraptions: Steampunk Rocket Sled, Rhino Beetle, and Flying Broom.
May 17-19: MAKER FAIRE (https://makerfaire.com/bay-area/)! Contraptions: Steampunk Rocket Sled, Rhino Beetle, and Flying Broom.
2019: EPIC 7TH ANNIVERSARY MONTH-LONG GALLERY SHOW AND MORE!
This year, we are pulling out all the stops (not that any were in, in the first place.)
For the month of March, Obtainium Works is taking over Temple Arts Loft Gallery in downtown Vallejo for a gallery show! Ride art cars! Build stuff! Get drinks from a robot! Witness the glory of our fleet of over 15 art art cars! Plus, on the weekends we will have live entertainment, food, and drinks!
9th Annual Mad Hatter Festival and Parade, Dec. 1st, 2018!
Come to the 9th Annual Mad Hatter Festival and Parade on Saturday, December 1st in downtown Vallejo. Festivities start at 12pm and end around 10pm. Parade begins on Sonoma Blvd and Georgia Streets around 4:30pm. Dress warm and bring your family and friends to this wonderful display of art cars, marching bands, and holiday silliness!
Vallejo Open Studios! Nov 10-11, 2018!
Open Studios at Obtainium Works
Join us for a weekend of great art at the premiere art car studio in the North Bay. Come see the new vehicles and the projects in development! We will also have guest artists - Sherry Moyse of Ambiance Jewelry who has a great line of steampunk jewelry and Cherie Mendieta of MaCheri Designs who has beautiful beaded jewelry. We will also have some steampunk clothing items from our crew, a new line of Obtainium Works logo mugs and stickers, and the usual great food and beverages!
Vegas, Baby!
(Editor’s update: we now have a link to an article that describes the Lyft Art Park, where several Burning Man art pieces are on display, including the Neverwas Haul, while visitors wait for their Lyft drivers. Click here to find the Lyft Art Park in Las Vegas.)
From Lyft’s blog: “Starting on Wednesday, Sep. 26 and running through Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, Lyft passengers can experience the first-of-its-kind Lyft Art Park on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street. The Lyft Art Park is home to some of the most awesome art cars and pieces from the Playa, including 30-foot animatronic ballerinas, polar bears and robots in an immersive experience for all ages to explore, enjoy and engage with.”
Video from CBS Channel 8 News:
Also in the Las Vegas Review Journal: “While waiting for a ride in downtown Las Vegas, you might expect to see lively bachelorette parties piling into limousines or tipsy tourists hailing taxis. Or you might see a 30-foot-tall ballerina dancing toward a mobile Victorian home.
Lyft’s Art Park merges the efficient with the artful. The pick-up and drop-off hub serves as something of an outdoor museum for wayward art installations.”
Play the game of “Where’s Waldo?” by looking at this photo of Las Vegas. Somewhere in there is the Neverwas Haul, one of several Burning Man art pieces on display at the 2018 “Life is Beautiful” festival. (Photo was found here.)
Related: This beautiful video poem is worth watching.
Top 10 Motor Homes You Won't Believe Exist
Yes, the title is clickbait, but the Neverwas Haul somehow was placed at #1 of the top of list of exotic motorhomes. Once again, folks can’t wrap their brain around the fact that it is a mobile work of art, and not an actual place to live.
There are loads of strange yet amazing motorhomes out there. Here are 10 amazing motorhomes you won't believe exist. Subscribe for more! ► https://goo.gl/pgcoq1 ◄ Stay updated ► https://goo.gl/JyGcTt https://goo.gl/5c8dzr ◄ For copyright queries or general inquiries please get in touch: hello@beamazed.com Be Amazed at these top 10 motorhomes!
MAKE Magazine: Obtainium Cup Rally brings out the Silly
Our friends at MAKE Magazine (and Maker Faire) just posted this fantastic blog post about our recent Obtainium Cup Contraptors Rally. Discovering that the event is "really an excuse for municipal silliness, an old-fashioned family outing, and a focal point for the local maker community," the heavily photo and video-laden post describes the event as an excuse for the city of Vallejo to have fun. Says the author Clair Whitmer, "Obtainium Works is a great example of a makerspace assuming an important civic role and helping turn Vallejo into a fanciful but undeniable example of a maker city in the making."
Obtainium Works Presents TIKITRON to TWiT TV!
Obtainium Works inventors Samuel Coniglio, Katherine Becvar, and Kiki Jewell were invited to show off the TIKITRON drinkbot on the "New Screen Savers" online TV show, part of the "This Week in Tech" TWiT.TV.
Many thanks to TWiT TV for inviting TIKITRON into their studio for a fun introduction to Cocktail robotics!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QbDW9lJmyw&feature=youtu.be
Empress Theater screens Obtainium Works featured on Jay Leno’s Garage
On August 2nd, 2018, Come see the very Steampunk episode of "Jay Leno's Garage" featuring Shannon O'Hare, Kathy O'Hare, and Kimric Smythe of Obtainium Work at the Empress Theater for FREE!
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/article/NH/20180725/NEWS/180729900
Map of 2018 Obtainium Cup
2018 Obtainium Cup in the News!
There’s no telling what magic elixir Kathy and Shannon O’Hare take to prepare and produce the annual Obtanium Cup and Art Car Jam next weekend July 21-22.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/article/NH/20180713/NEWS/180719921
Watch us on TV!
Battlebots Season 3 is here! Our team, the Deviled Egg is in the first episode, as part of a multi-bot rumble. Watch it on the Science Channel!