Hack Arts Lab

The Hack Arts Lab (HAL) provides an open-access laboratory for creative digital fabrication and visualization.  This makerspace-styled workshop is designed to support a breadth of activity ranging from undergraduate personal projects to faculty-led curricular exploration.  

HAL resources include 3D printers, laser cutters, soldering stations, workbenches, and microcomputing tools, all offered at minimal cost. Access to HAL resources is managed through the MADD Center Canvas course. Self-enrollment in the Canvas course is available via this link. 

Our equipment and facilities are available to University of Chicago students, staff, and faculty for creative projects and teaching uses. We support the curricular needs of courses interested in digital fabrication and visualization, as well as self-directed projects. In 2019, HAL was moved to be in close proximity to a group of other design and visualization resources, within the university's Media Arts, Data, and Design (MADD) Center.

Initiated in 2013 by Jason Salavon, associate professor in the Department of Visual Arts and the Computation Institute, the Hack Arts Lab (HAL) is currently managed by the professional staff of the MADD Center Arts Labs (Kent Lambert, Associate Director, MADD Arts Labs + Kate Peteet, Weston Game Lab Program Manager) and their staff of graduate and undergraduate student employees. HAL is a partnership with the Logan Center for the Arts, with support from the Division of the Humanities and the Computer Science Department in the Physical Sciences Division. 

Additional support for HAL's launch was provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research and National Laboratories, IT Services, and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.