A place to create

COEUR d'ALENE - The founders of Gizmo-CDA see their new technology and tool-training school as a "makerspace."

Barbara Pleason Mueller and Marty Mueller said Gizmo-CDA will provide a space where art, design, technology and tools meld with the hands and minds of people in North Idaho who want to create.

Gizmo-CDA, a nonprofit, will have 3,000 square feet of floor space at 806 N. Fourth St. in Coeur d'Alene, and the first classes will be in June.

Barbara Mueller said the University of Idaho will be paying the first year's lease payments. The Muellers will be looking to businesses and individuals who can help provide tools the students will use.

Gizmo-CDA will be open to all age groups, economic levels and skill sets, they said.

Mentors from many disciplines will work side-by-side with the students, Barbara Mueller said.

Students will be able to take skill-set classes, where they can learn to use particular tools such as laser cutters, 3D printers, welding equipment, CNC equipment, among others. The space also will be filled with wood-working tools, ceramics, encaustics, jewelry, print making and more.

The skill-set classes will cost approximately $15 and usually be completed in a single day.

There will also be what the Muellers call "takeaway classes," where students can learn together how to build a robot or lighting device or engage in other special projects. The cost of the takeaway classes will vary depending on the number of days and materials used.

"It's not just STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), it's also art based," Barbara Mueller said. "Bringing in artistic thought at the beginning really improves the product at the end."

The Muellers believe a lot of learning can happen in a short amount of time when it's hands-on focused.

"We want people to have those 'aha moments' when they connect the dots," Barbara Mueller said.

Students can also become paid members of Gizmo-CDA, which would give them access to the tools and space and volunteer mentors at the school to create something of their own. The monthly membership fee will cost $45 to $50.

"Artists, engineers, and software 'gizmologists' will breathe life into ideas in combination with each other," she said.

A board of directors for managing the school will be formed, she said.

"Anybody who would like to be involved should get in touch," she said.

Class teachers will be paid with student fees. Membership fees will help cover overhead.

Class offerings will be dependent on demand.

"It's the people who will take it where it wants to go," she said.

The Muellers are Coeur d'Alene residents and have for the past several years mentored Coeur d'Alene High School students in robotics competitions.

"They come in texting on their phones, and leave having built a robot," she said.

Marty Mueller is a mechanical, optical and electrical engineer. Barbara Mueller is an artist.

A website for Gizmo-CDA is being created. When online it will provide information about classes and schedules.

Until then, for more information, the Muellers can be contacted at: barb@gizmo-cda.org and marty@gizmo-cda.org.