Sponsorship from West Oakland CASS (Custom Alloy Scrap Sales) makes it possible
On Thursday, July 24, The Crucible welcomed friends, family, mentors, and instructors of our 2014 Fuego Youth Interns to celebrate the accomplishments of their two-year appointments.
Fuego began in 2010 with six students selected to intern for faculty in welding, foundry, glass flameworking, jewelry, and blacksmithing. It quickly expanded to include twelve interns, three apprentices, and a broader range of internship fields with the help of sponsor and West Oakland neighbor, CASS, Inc. (Custom Alloy Scrap Sales). Now in its fifth year, Fuego has provided paid summer and school year opportunities for 30 young people.
During the Fuego program, interns focus on developing their artistic and technical skills, learning leadership skills, supporting The Crucible’s youth classes, and discussing professional development and exhibition preparation with well established Bay Area artists. Under the leadership of Carla Hall, Youth Program Director, and Stephanie Krause, Fuego Coordinator, interns actively participate in the organization and implementation of the youth summer camps, as well as in leadership development and training components taking place before, during, and after camp classes.
The 2014 Fuego reception featured a gallery of artwork created during their internship, showcasing their technical progression and growth. The interns also gave first-hand accounts of what the internship opportunity had meant to them and what they will take with them as they leave the program. Fuego mentors also shared with friends and family about the strengths and transformative changes they had seen in the interns’ lives over the course of their experiences. A highlight of the evening was the reveal of a custom-made artwork presented to CASS, Inc. to honor their years of sponsorship support of the program. The CASS sign, developed as a group project, represented each intern’s industrial art focus area–glass blowing, flameworking, MIG and TIG welding, jewelry, metal casting, and blacksmithing.
We congratulate 2014 Fuego interns Adbdollah Hamdan, Te’von Hayes, David MacDannald, Tiffany Sanders, Juan Ruiz, Maliq Nathaniel, Jazmine Schwinges-Williams, Gemma Baumer, Munirah Harris, and Jerrick Le. They have shown passion, hard work and dedication, and we know they will go on to do great things in our community.
Special thanks to Kris Karmichael and her team for catering and providing such wonderful service, drinks, and desserts for our families. In addition, our continued thanks to CASS, Inc. for fiscal and in-kind sponsorship of Fuego and our other youth programs.
For more information on how you can support/participate with the Fuego program, please contact Carla Hall, Youth Programs Director.
