Fab Lab Fort Smith

Working on building a greenhouse for the lab! Love watching it take shape and can’t wait to see what the community grows inside. Stay tuned, big updates coming soon!

Each year, the Fort Smith International Film Festival honors the best documentary with something far more meaningful than a standard award, a unique hand painted snapping turtle trophy, transformed by the vision of a local artist. No two are alike, each piece a one-of-a-kind creation that captures the spirit of storytelling and the soul of our region.

This year’s masterpiece was brought to life by Rea Tedeton of the Community School of the Arts, and she does not disappoint. Set atop a rugged, beautifully grained slab of wood, the turtle bursts with color and character. Its fierce open mouth and outstretched limbs radiate energy, painted in a luminous turquoise with vibrant yellow and black speckles that echo both wild nature and abstract expressionism. The shell, a textured and jagged crown, is dusted with a subtle shimmer of glitter that catches the light like a constellation trapped in stone.

This isn’t just a trophy, it’s a sculpture and a story of its own. One lucky filmmaker will walk away not only with recognition, but with this bold, glimmering creature to remind them that their work left a mark.

Bathroom got a firmware update. Now it glows, judges your hygiene, and might be sentient. Hackerspace magic leaks into the plumbing.

Laser’s back online! We raised the laser, relocated the chiller under the machine, and added new ventilation for both the laser and the room. Clean cuts and clean air. Let’s make something awesome! 😎💥

The kitchen’s getting a little glow-up! Holes? What holes? Next up: a shiny new steel door to the wood shop to brighten things up and ditch the haunted vibes.

Another room. Another paint day. 🎨

Productive day at the lab. We got a fresh coat of paint up, and those old leak stains are history. Next up, saying goodbye to the carpet and hello to wood lies underneath. 😜

built a new table for the lab using old cedar and a recycled bed frame.

Latest project coming out of The Lab using some laser power. By Shea Brown

Paint your city! Leave your mark!

2600 hacker meetup went down at The Lab last night. John Luke’s last one before moving. We gave him a proper send-off and got deep into solving the B-Sides Tulsa badge from earlier that day. Solid night with the crew. We’re here every first Friday. Pull up.