Your Most Creative Vacation, Down To The Minute

By Kristin Arzt

It is time for your summer vacation! Taking time off from work is statistically proven to encourage creative thinking, prevent burnout, and make you healthier. Take a creative vacation this summer and immerse yourself in a creative practice for one week. This August, we are offering nine different adult weeklong classes! From brand-new classes like Metal Clay Pendants and Earrings, to old favorites like Woodworking I, you are sure to have your most creative vacation yet in our studios!

“You don’t lose your idea or your creative drive. You go home to rest after class, and come back the next day still in the zone.”

Take the creative vacation of your dreams, and spend a week at The Crucible, exploring new art forms, meeting new people, and making art!

Your First Day of Vacation at The Crucible:

9:30am- Get to The Crucible early to get that prime parking spot! Not a fan of cars? We are with you. There is tons of bicycle parking on-site and we are only two blocks away from West Oakland BART.

9:35am- Grab a cup of coffee and a delicious doughnut at Orbit Coffee, our new favorite coffee shop just across the street from The Crucible. They roast their own beans and are always experimenting with new sources, different roasting profiles, and crazy extracting methods.

9:50am- Arrive early to class to meet your instructor and fellow classmates! No need to check in, just go straight to class.

10:00am- Class (and your week of creative making) starts.

10:10am- Each entry-level weeklong class begins with a full tour of our 56,000-square-foot warehouse, home to 19 different industrial and fine arts departments. Keep your eyes and mind open and you are sure to get ideas for your next Crucible class!

10:30am- Get the run down on your new favorite art form–whether it is jewelry, welding, or woodworking–from your instructor as you cover the syllabus for the week as a class. Plan out your projects for the week.

1:00pm- Lunch time! Take a short walk down to Mandela Grocery. They are installing a brand-new, full kitchen this summer, and we are so excited to try their new menu!

1:15pm- Enjoy your lunch in the sun on our newly restored wooden bench, just outside of our student entrance! Jake, our Woodworking intern, and Brandyn, our Studio Operations Technician, worked together to restore this bench using donated wood.

1:30pm- Done with class? The majority of our weeklong classes end at 1pm, but not all of them. If you are in Woodworking I, Bladesmithing, or Foundry Fundamentals, get back in the studio to plan and work on your projects!

4:00pm- Class is out! Head across the street to 7th West, our neighborhood barcade, for delicious Filipino street food!

See below for all of our upcoming weeklong workshops, and join us for a deep dive into creative exploration–out of the office.

New and Rare Offerings!