The Life Is Living festival is an event that happens once a year in Oakland. It promotes science, which is the root of the event, but it also emphasizes learning, having fun and connecting with the community. I went to the event last saturday with my two sisters. My goal was to visit the STEM mini-Maker Faire and check out the other interactive experiments .
Kids were lining up to play with Lego cars, attend a drone camera workshop and learn how to make their own solar panel.
I went to every booth and asked for some basic information about the organizations that were presenting.
My favorite booth was “acid painting on copper.” This workshop was run by a man named Stephen Bruce. He’s kind of legend. His artwork has been used in over 25 TV shows, such as Revenge, House and the Big Bang Theory, and also appeared in movies like Iron Man 3, The Avengers and Horrible Bosses. At his booth, I was able to create my own piece of acid-painted copper. I sprayed my little piece of copper with organic apple cider vinegar to create the color blue. Stephen sealed my copper in a bag and he told me it would develop colors in about three weeks and that I could pick it up at the next First Friday event in November.
This event is very important to the community because it helps youth get more engaged in activities that involve math, science, engineering; all topics that can be used to improve our futures. I walked away with new techniques to create art using science.
