Classes
Check Out Your September-December Classes In Our Latest Member Guide
7.11.2023
Are you ready to shape glass, forge metal, and mold clay this fall? September–December classes open this Tuesday, July 11 exclusively for Crucible members. And with more than 200 sessions to pick from, there’s a class for every schedule.
Explore our suite of holiday-themed classes including fall favorites, Decorative Glass Pumpkins and Metal Clay Skulls, as well as family-friendly winter ornament classes. We also have lots of 3-Hour Tasters, perfect for making with your friends, as well as returning long-form offerings like Bell Casting, Neon I, and Family Baubles and Bling.
Youth and Guardians can take many of our ornament classes, like Mexican Tin Ornaments, together. See individual class listings for details.
As always, members get first dibs on classes, so if you haven’t secured your Crucible membership, now is the time! Not only do you get access to early registration, but you also get 10% off tuition throughout the year. Become a Crucible member today and save your seat in an upcoming class. Public registration will open Tuesday, July 18.
Highlight: Fall and Winter Holiday Classes
Make something worth celebrating!
🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃
Try your hand at glass blowing while creating your own decorative glass pumpkins. Learn to safely gather glass from the furnace, apply colors, and shape and sculpt molten glass. These glass art pieces make great gifts all year round! Be prepared to work in the heat!
Using copper and silver metal clay, create fine metal skulls using a variety of rolling, texture, applique, and carving techniques. Kiln fire your designs, then polish your pieces in time for Halloween!
❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Carve your designs into resin-bonded sand to make a sand mold, then watch as molten aluminum is poured to fill your mold. When the metal has cooled, learn finishing and coloring applications to make your ornament pop!
Using flat, precut copper shapes as a base, layer colored opaque glass in stenciled designs, then fire it in the kiln to create a unique ornament you can pass down from generation to generation.
Students will learn to emboss using a traditional press, exploring various materials, and utilizing both traditional and experimental techniques. Then apply watercolor designs gently on top of the pressed imagery.
After a basic introduction to melting and shaping borosilicate glass with an oxy-propane torch, create elegant, icicle-inspired ornaments or miniature candy canes ideal for holiday gifting or for your own ornament collection.
In this class, instructors guide the process of basic glass blowing, including gathering molten glass from the furnace, applying color, blowing a hollow vessel, and attaching a hot glass loop to hang the ornaments.
Learn techniques for tooling aluminum, a malleable form of tin, while working with available designs and patterns or creating a unique design of your own.
And don’t miss your chance to make unique holiday gifts in these classes!
Make a one-of-a-kind ceramic mug to enjoy your favorite warm beverage. Learn a variety of hand-building techniques in a single session during this fun, project-based class. Mugs are food-grade safe and great for yourself or as a gift.
Adding some greenery to your decor? Create your own ceramic planter and cement yourself as a true greenthumb! Learn a variety of hand-building and color application techniques in a single session during this fun, project-based class.
In this introductory workshop, we will design and hand-cut vinyl stencils, and then use the sandblaster to etch the glass. You will learn what design elements work best for hand-cut stencils, about resist materials, how to safely hand-cut vinyl, and how to operate the sand blaster.
Further develop your basic metalsmithing skills. We will teach disk cutting and doming, bezel setting, three types of rivets, and further design techniques. In addition to technical reference samples, you will create an original piece of jewelry of your own design using a cabochon stone.
Learn basic soldering and metalworking techniques to make a set of stackable rings from sterling silver, copper, brass, and gold fill. You will leave with several stylish rings for yourself or to give as gifts.
Learn to cut, edge, and dye leather, then set rivets and add a buckle to your pet’s new dashing collar! Once the collar is complete, take it over to the Jewelry Department and anneal, stamp, and design a tag for your favorite furry friend.
Learn to safely use woodworking tools and machines, then complete your project with colorful, foodsafe finishes. Class projects include wooden pull toys, simple dollhouses, or animal rattles.
Join us for a 3-Hour Taster
Try out one of our departments without making a full class commitment.
Take your making to the next level
Continuing level classes are your opportunity to grow your skills in the department of your choosing
Wheel Throwing II
Blacksmithing II
Ceramics II
Jewelry and Metals II
Glass Flameworking II
Glass Fusing and Slumping II
Adventures in Soft Glass: Finding Your Inner Monster
Chasing and Repousse
Enameling Surfaces
Plique-a-Jour: Stained Glass Enameling
Foundry II: Ceramic Shell Process
Boxes, Lockets, and Hinges
Hot Glass Sculpting I
Enameling Open Studio Hours
Traditional Dovetails
Fire Hula Hoop II
Fire Poi II: Turns, Transitions, and Flow
Fundamental Forms
Goblets
Glass Blowing II: Cup Class
Leather Working II
Glass Beads II
Metal Furniture Fabrication
Neon II
Power Hammer I
Stone Setting
Techniques in Ornamental Iron Work
Enameling II
Rare & popular classes just landed
These classes are sure to fill fast!
Bell Casting
Bell Casting introduces participants to bell design and the lost wax foundry technique. Each student will design, cast, and finish a bell approximately six inches in diameter. This entry level class will provide a foundation for further exploration in this versatile foundry approach.
Blacksmithing I
Learn the basics of blacksmithing! This class teaches the fundamental skills needed to forge steel and understand blacksmithing tools. We will introduce tapering, upsetting, flattening, dishing, and bending of hot steel. Students make small projects, such as spoons, knives, forks, and hooks.
Exploring Welding
Can’t decide what type of welding to take? Explore the varied possibilities of oxy-acetylene, arc/stick, metal inert gas (MIG), and tungsten inert gas (TIG). You will get the chance to try all four, gaining an understanding of which type of welding is most appropriate for the projects you want to complete.
Family Baubles and Bling
Join The Crucible for some family fun while learning about jewelry making! In family groups, you will learn to make customized and engraved pendants by creating a collage pattern encased with plexiglass and copper. Then work together to create decorative polymer clay baubles that may be used as ornaments, window hangings, or accessories.
This workshop is specially designed for children ages 5-7 years old with accompanying adult(s).
Fire Eating I
Amaze an audience with your new skills as a fire eater! You will learn the science and safety behind basic tricks so you can fearlessly perform with open flame. You will learn tracing (how to run fire along the surface of your skin), transfers (moving flame from one source or position to another), various extinguishes, and tips for putting on a great show. You also will make your own set of torches to take home.
Fundamentals of Machine Shop
Learn the fundamentals of Machine Shop theory and practice! Over this 15-hour course, you will be provided with a detailed handout packet and make a small project using basic machine tools.
Fundamentals of Woodworking
Begin your woodworking experience in this introduction to tools and techniques. We will cover the basics of wood technology, what hand tools and power tools to use, how to use them, and how to care for them, as well as an intro to finishing, and a discussion of joinery vs. structure. Bring a notebook and comfortable shoes, as this will be a fast-paced, hands-on overview.
Neon I
Light up your life with neon! In this class you will learn the skills needed to complete a project in neon and an illuminated project. In addition to hands-on instruction in tools and techniques, this class includes discussion of design and aesthetic considerations. Transformers are provided.
Spoon Carving By Hand
Stone Working: Creative Carving
Wheel Throwing I
Woodturning I
Youth classes your kids will love
Offerings for students ages 12-18
Youth Blacksmithing I
Ages 12-18
Youth Glass Blowing I
Ages 14-18
Youth Glass Flameworking I
Ages 12-18
Youth Jewelry and Metals I
Ages 12-18
Youth MIG Welding
Ages 12-18
Keep Reading
Celebrate Women’s History Month With These Bay Area Events
Throughout March, we’ll be recognizing the remarkable contributions of women past and present, as part of Women’s History Month. Check out local Women’s History Month events...
Black History Month In The Bay Area: Your 2024 Events Calendar
Every February, The Bay Area celebrates and recognizes the myriad contributions of Black Americans to our local and national culture during Black History Month events....
Test Your Crucible Knowledge: 25 Facts for 25 Years
It’s hard to believe, but 2024 marks The Crucible’s 15th anniversary! Since first opening our doors on January 15, 1999, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting thousands of artists,...
Thank You For Spending Your Weekend At GIFTY!
We are still beaming after an incredible GIFTY 2023! What a spectacular weekend full of creativity and community. Thank you to the thousands of visitors who came out to support our...
Crucible Board President, Melanie Moore Named One of Influential Women 2023
This is an interview with one of San Francisco Business Times' outstanding professionals in the 2023 class of Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business....
Art Transforms Lives: Youth Find Their Path Making Art With Rikki Smeltzer
In the summer of 2011, after graduating from his metalsmithing program at the University of North Texas, Rikki Lee Smeltzer set his sights on the Bay Area, in search of a creative...