Workshops
January + February 2025 Offerings: Welding & DIY Tape Synth Building
Welding Workshops are back!
Introduction to Metal Working classes for mig welding. Learn the basics of welding and engage with the process by fabricating a small functional or artistic project of your own choosing. Taught by Airlift & Music Box Village's lead fabricator Christian Repaal. Workshop is four weeks long, one track will run Mondays 11AM-2PM and the other Wednesdays from 5:30-8:30PM.
Monday Sessions ($550): 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, and 2/17
Wednesday Sessions ($600): 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, and 2/12
Class is for ages 16+ (students ages 16 & 17 should bring written consent from a guardian to the first class).
ABOUT CHRISTIAN: Christian Repaal has been an art fabricator, bass player, building contractor, and art teacher in New Orleans since 1994. In his years here, Christian has forged deep ties into the local communities of visual artists, musicians, tradespeople, and educators. Both a mason and a carpenter, he has been in the trades for nearly 25 years. In the last ten years, since attending UNO for history and fine art, Christian has built a reputation as an art fabricator. Christopher Saucedo, Jennifer Odem, Stephen Collier, and dozens of other New Orleans artists have utilized and appreciated his ability to communicate their visions through his handiwork and interpretive talent. Most recently, he has worked closely with celebrated artist Swoon to help her realize some of her more complex three- dimensional pieces. Christian has, in his time, trained many young carpenters, masons, and sculptors in the proper and safe use of tools, building techniques, and use of materials; both on the job and in the classroom. For the almost ten summers he has taught at Lusher Charter Schoolʼs Summer Arts Intensive Program, helping young artists gain new skills. He maintains the machine shop and workspace of the Airlift headquarters, where he helps artists execute their visions and supports the built needs of the organization.
Tape Synth Building Workshop - Jan 20-24
Interested in making a synthesizer using a tape deck, a few components and parts, and a little bit of soldering? Sign up for this 5 day workshop that shows you how to: Hack into a walkman/cassette player, install 4 points of pitch control with momentary control, and how to splice a custom tape so you can create your own sounds to manipulate. This class goes for $400, and it will include all components to hack with, a cassette deck, soldering iron, and you walk away with a fully functional synth you can jam out with! You'll also be confident enough to tinker around with simple circuits and use a soldering iron. Class is taught by Airlift/MBV's Technical Director Alex Abalos.
Class runs January 20-24 from 6-8PM each evening.
This class is for 16+ (students 16 & 17 years of age should bring written consent on the first day of class). All levels of tinkering are accepted, this class welcomes individuals, couples, parent/child, and any human willing to learn about the beauty of tapes. Class sizes will be small and held in the Music Box Village schoolhouse.
ABOUT ALEX: Alex Abalos is an electrician, musician, sound artist, instrument fabricator and synthesizer nerd who enjoys piecing together unlikely partners, instruments, found sounds, and venues, creating unique and meaningful experiences that help neighborhoods think outside of their barriers and boundaries. He began his work with Airlift in 2023.