Assembly

Part of Locally Made's One Room.
In Assembly, gather for casual meetings of the minds and unexpected happenings curated by local artists and designers. Congregate for poetry readings, sonic performances, movement, projection, and more.
Melissa Withers and Allan Tear co-curate Entrepreneur Artist, Artist Entrepreneur: Building Beyond Business, Dreaming Beyond Art from 9/10 - 9/15.In this six-part series, co-hosts Allan Tear and Melissa Withers will feature six amazing local entrepreneurs who live at the intersection where art & design and business meet, their work serving as a powerful testament to the maker/artist culture that defines Rhode Island's DNA. With topics such as Medicine as Play, Making Metal Move, From Shape to Sound, and The Body at Work, the showings will enable participants to see, hear, interact and learn more about a new generation of startups and the artist entrepreneurs who drive them. — Melissa Withers & Allan Tear
9/11: Scott HarrisI build interactive tools designed to empower people through education, reflection, and self improvement. In this presentation we will explore the use of interactive design to inspire positive actions and habits in the real world. — Scott Harris
Free with museum admission.
Betaspring Chief of Staff and nerd whisperer Melissa Withers (@mizwithers) manages Betaspring's Mentor network and coordinates programming for each Betaspring session. In her advisory capacity to Betaspring teams, her skillz are primarily in PR & media relations, customer experience design, and get-to-market communications. In 2011, Melissa served as communications director for the then newly-elected Mayor of the City of Providence. Prior, she was co-founder and Executive Director of the Business Innovation Factory, an organization that creates platforms to enable the design and testing of new business models in areas of high social impact. Melissa started her career in life science and previously served as Assistant Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were she managed community relations and public communications, as well as Whitehead's pioneering science policy and advocacy program. She lives in Providence, and has soft spot for nerds.
Allan Tear is a founder and managing partner of Betaspring. Allan has founded three venture-funded startups: Elastic Networks, Incanta, and WhyData. He has raised over $15M from angels, venture capital, and strategic partners, including Slater Fund, Intel Capital and AT&T. He is an expert in new product and service launches. Allan is an active angel investor in early stage technology companies, and advises national, state, and local government on nurturing high-growth startup ecosystems. He helps students and schools with entrepreneurship through the Brown COE program, RISD Mindshare, and the Carnegie Mellon Dean's Leadership Council. He was selected in 2008 for the Providence Business News "40 Under Forty" list and in 2010 as "10 to Watch" by Providence Monthly. Allan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, with B.S. degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Public Policy.
Scott Michael Harris began his career as a 3D artist at Nickelodeon Studios in 2002. From computer animation to music videos to video games his work interests quickly gravitated toward interactive design. At age 24, he became the youngest Sr. Interactive Exhibit Designer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, designing dozens of award winning digital, physical, and mixed media interactive exhibit components that still travel the world today. He transitioned to directing and producing large scale independent interactive art installations for clients including Hyatt Hotels and AT&T. Scott is inspired by systems and patterns found in nature, and the tremendous influences they have on human experiences. He is currently the cofounder and CEO of ShutterCal, a calendar based daily photo journaling community designed to inspire positive actions, habits, and experiences in the real world.