BIDDEFORD — Children of all ages will have the opportunity to be creative this summer through a series of workshops hosted by Engine, a nonprofit arts organization and maker space based in downtown Biddeford.

The workshops, which begin Friday and run through Aug. 20 on Saturdays and Sundays, will offer beginners and experienced makers alike the chance to create multiple forms of fabrication arts in Engine’s FabLab, from jewelry and wearable design to 3D prints.

The FabLab, short for Fabrication Laboratory, is a unique studio that features a 3D printer, laser cutters, vinyl cutters and milling machines to shape various media – such as metals, wood, plastics and other composites – into almost anything.

“That’s the whole idea behind the FabLab, where anyone can make anything,” said Tammy Ackerman, executive director of Engine. “We’re tying to empower individuals to do their own projects or start small businesses or develop projects they can sell through Etsy or other similar channels – really giving individuals the power to create their own works.”

The FabLab also allows workers at Engine to create pieces for others, Ackerman said.

The next addition to the lab will be a CNC router, which can cut metals, wood, composites and other hard materials through computer numeric control. The router is expected to cost $23,000, and Engine has received almost $10,000 in private donations and grants to fund it.

Wade Warman, a master of fine arts student at the University of Maine, is working at Engine as its Maker in Residence for the summer, and will help with the workshops.

Bringing Warman on board is part of a larger initiative, the Maker Ed Corps Program, which supports community programming at maker spaces across the country through the nonprofit organization Maker Ed. Thanks to a $2,500 grant from Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution, Ackerman was able to bring Warman to Biddeford for the summer to serve at Engine.

Warman serves as the “Fab Lab Guru” at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle and as the Head Lab Tech at UMaine’s Innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center. Warman also teaches at UMaine, and will be teaching an “Intro to Prototyping” class next year.

With Warman’s help, Ackerman is hoping to draw a good crowd of kids to the workshops, none of which she says will cost more than $30. Children will love attending the workshops, she said, because “we’re cutting things, we’re making a lot of noise.”

She’s hoping more girls attend the workshops this year – typically, the majority of participants are boys, she said.

All workshops are four hours long. A complete schedule can be found at FeedtheEngine.org/schedule. For more information, call 370-9130.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected]