The Crucible’s 20th Year: How To Celebrate With Us
As of January 15 of this year, The Crucible is twenty years old! In honor of this anniversary, we are celebrating the only way we know how – expanding access for youth and adults, recommitting to fire arts, increasing the scope of our class offerings, and showcasing the awe-inspiring talent of our faculty at a series of community events throughout 2019. Read on to see how you can celebrate this special birthday with us, and explore your creativity in the process.
Deepening Community Partnerships
EXPANDED SCHOLARSHIPS
Adult Program
Thanks to our board and our generous donors, The Crucible is relaunching our adult scholarship program with $50,000 of available funds! Priority will be given to those who have financial need, live in our immediate neighborhood, and/or demonstrate artistic talent. This new funding gives us capacity to offer full scholarships to roughly 70 more adults every year.
$10,000 of this adult scholarship fund is dedicated to Raphael Allen, Lauren Ekman’s husband, who passed in 2018. Throughout his life, Raphael was dedicated to facilitating interpretive engagement with nature and history, by researching and including the stories of under-represented people in his tours, writings, and talks. His scholarship fund is specifically focused on supporting people of color who live in Oakland who need support to enroll in Crucible classes.
In addition to relaunching our adult scholarship program, we are pleased to continue to offer 50% off tuition to seniors, City of Oakland employees, firefighters, full-time college students, veterans and active military, and educators.
Youth Program
Each year, The Crucible offers over $100,000 in full and partial scholarships for our Youth Program classes to local area youth. This summer, thanks to support from an anonymous donor, we will offer an additional $10,000 in youth scholarships, specifically for local young people of color to enroll in our most popular classes – increasing the number of scholarship spots allocated for youth classes by 50% in Blacksmithing, Welding, and more!
20+ New Courses
To celebrate The Crucible’s 20th anniversary as an industrial arts school, we are releasing over 20 brand new courses that are multidisciplinary, fiery, convenient, and all of the above. These classes are project focused, with opportunities for you to create benches, wind chimes, glass shot glasses, elegant stacking rings, and more. And even better—many of them are only one day and can fit into even the busiest of schedules.
Contemporary Embossing
Embossing is the process of raising the two-dimensional surface of a design to give it varying degrees of depth, an effect that can’t be achieved in painting, drawing, or printing....
Indigo Dyeing and Shibori
Learn to create unique patterns on fabric using shibori techniques and natural indigo dye. You will use folding, tying, and binding resist techniques to dye four cotton napkins and...
Pet Collar and Tag
Calling all pet lovers! 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...
Shot Glass Class
Learn to blow glass and make your own colorful shot glass. Students will learn to gather and color hot glass, then shape it into a functional shot glass....
Large Ceramic Forms
Explore techniques for making larger ceramic forms that can survive the kiln! Make a ceramic sculpture or planter, while practicing handbuilding techniques like coiling and...
Fused Glass Pendants
Learn to work with fusible glass, dichroic glass, and silver foil to create beautiful pendants in this three-hour workshop. Students will be make several small glass fused...
Wind Chimes
Create your own welded wind chime! Students will weld a metal rectangular wind chime box, plasma cut their unique design on the sides, and hang steel chain, hooks, and cut metal...
FIRE SERIES
The Crucible is open sourcing its knowledge of fire arts with a six-part series of fire performance, safety, and effects that will run throughout 2019 and beyond. The series begins with a survey of how to safely prevent and suppress uncontained fires. Hands-on coursework includes the design and fabrication of effective and beautiful flame effect sculptures and training in a variety of fire performance forms including fire hoop, poi, and staff. Practice and train with highly skilled fire performers and technicians, and have the opportunity to perform for live audiences!
Step 1: Fire Safety
Learn to understand what exactly fire is, techniques to prevent uncontained fires, and how to suppress a variety of fire effects. Walk away with a scientific understanding of the sources of fire and its reactions, as well as hands-on experience putting out fire effects under the expert guidance of Christopher T. Palmer. This is the first class in the six part Fire Series.
Step 2: Choose Your Own Adventure
Fire Performance: Learn the art of fire dancing using poi, staff, and hoop to increase strength and skill in choreography, movement, and tricks with music. Build up to spinning with fire through this course. PREREQUISITE: Fire Safety
Fire Effects I: Learn to design and build safe, effective, beautiful flame effect sculptures with propane. You will learn many different ways of manipulating fire for use in sculpture, including accumulator poofer effects, propane and liquid fuel effects, igniters, and electronic controls. PREREQUISITE: Fire Safety
Fire Effects II: In this intermediate course, make safe, effective, and beautiful propane and liquid fuel flame effects. You’ll design and build flame effects sculptures in class working with an instructor and a variety of materials. Build upon your fire effects skills to create unique, fiery projects. Students who build flame effect devices to take home may have additional expenses for materials. PREREQUISITE: Fire Effects I
Step 3: Come Play With Us!
Fire Lab: In this advanced course, devise, build, and execute original fire performance and/or fire effects pieces, under the supervision and mentorship of an instructor. Hone technique and ingenuity, develop professionalism in fire production, collaborate across departments, and demonstrate skills in a safe, supportive space. Utilize the experience and proficiency developed in previous courses of the Fire Series to bring the fire effects projects and fire performances of your dreams to life. PREREQUISITE: Completed 3 courses in Fire & Performance.
Fire Studio: By invitation-only, this select group of individuals – having completed the Fire Series training levels – may be asked to exhibit original fire performances and/or fire effect pieces during The Crucible’s events. Mentorship and coaching will be made available in preparation for and adjudication of pieces prior to public showcase. PREREQUISITE: Fire Lab
Step 2: Choose Your Own Adventure
Fire Performance: Learn the art of fire dancing using poi, staff, and hoop to increase strength and skill in choreography, movement, and tricks with music. Build up to spinning with fire through this course. PREREQUISITE: Fire Safety
Fire Effects I: Learn to design and build safe, effective, beautiful flame effect sculptures with propane. You will learn many different ways of manipulating fire for use in sculpture, including accumulator poofer effects, propane and liquid fuel effects, igniters, and electronic controls. PREREQUISITE: Fire Safety
Fire Effects II: In this intermediate course, make safe, effective, and beautiful propane and liquid fuel flame effects. You’ll design and build flame effects sculptures in class working with an instructor and a variety of materials. Build upon your fire effects skills to create unique, fiery projects. Students who build flame effect devices to take home may have additional expenses for materials. PREREQUISITE: Fire Effects I
Step 3: Come Play With Us!
Fire Lab: In this advanced course, devise, build, and execute original fire performance and/or fire effects pieces, under the supervision and mentorship of an instructor. Hone technique and ingenuity, develop professionalism in fire production, collaborate across departments, and demonstrate skills in a safe, supportive space. Utilize the experience and proficiency developed in previous courses of the Fire Series to bring the fire effects projects and fire performances of your dreams to life. PREREQUISITE: Completed 3 courses in Fire & Performance.
Fire Studio: By invitation-only, this select group of individuals – having completed the Fire Series training levels – may be asked to exhibit original fire performances and/or fire effect pieces during The Crucible’s events. Mentorship and coaching will be made available in preparation for and adjudication of pieces prior to public showcase. PREREQUISITE: Fire Lab
20th Anniversary Sponsors
The celebrations for our 20th Anniversary would not be possible without the following sponsors. Thank you for your continued support and helping make the industrial arts accessible for the East Bay and Greater Bay Area.
In-Kind Sponsors
