The Haliburton School of Art and Design cut the ribbon on their new innovative workspace July 20.

HSAD’s new Centre for Making lab has a number of  advanced devices and machines that are now open to the public including a large-scale printer laser and vinyl cutters an animation station a sewing machine donated by Susan Tose and two 3D printers.

Scott Walling co-ordinator of the Centre for Making says they chose equipment that could contribute to programs at the school. Walling showed off two rings on his fingers that were printed in resin by one of the 3D printers then were moulded and finished in silver by students in the school’s jewelry essentials course.

The other 3D printer which is much larger was used by a student to make a plastic replica of Boba Fett’s helmet from Star Wars as part of a student’s thesis project according to Walling.

The centre is part of Haliburton’s Community for Making initiative which aims to group a number of organizations in the county together to make an array of facilities and equipment available to the public.

The  initiative was started by the Haliburton County Public Library and so far has partnered with Canoe FM Sticks and Stones Media Haliburton Highlands Secondary School and the Haliburton Chamber of Commerce along with HSAD.

Chief librarian Bessie Sullivan says initiatives like this are common in libraries in larger cities that usually have the space to offer all the different equipment on site. Due to the size of Haliburton Sullivan decided to partner with a number of organizations around the community so they could offer a similar experience.

While the centre will mainly be used by students at HSAD it will be open to the public nine hours per week – from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Those interested can also call the school directly according to Walling to try to book a specific time to use some of the equipment.