Fuego Youth Leadership Program
Fuego is a youth leadership opportunity for high school students excited about deepening their technical skills, learning leadership skills, and supporting The Crucible’s youth classes. Fuego leaders progress from immersive creative classwork to the exploration of possible career opportunities.
Fuego Leader Graduates
Up to ten new Fuego students are selected each year and 1st-year students are encouraged to return for a second year. In order to apply, students must have completed at least three Crucible classes and be recommended by Crucible faculty or staff. Each Fuego student is paired with an experienced faculty instructor for two summers, with the goal of developing career skills, establishing rewarding relationships with mentors, and becoming leaders. Fuego leaders support teachers in the classroom, provide industrial arts demonstrations onsite and at Oakland festivals and cultural events, and mentor younger students.
When the Student Becomes The Teacher: C’Zarriah Davis Smith
As C’Zarriah Davis-Smith turns on the gas line and gathers her glass frit, a sense of calm falls over the flameworking studio. It’s a feeling often found in the presence of someone...
The Top Ten Bright Spots That Kept Us Going In 2020
2020; it’s a year we won’t soon forget. A year that impacted our entire community, friends, families, and neighbors. But it was also a testament to the dedication of The...
Simha Furaha Has A Backup Plan While The Crucible Hot Shop Is Closed
Two years after taking his first Crucible class, Simha Furaha stepped into the Hot Shop and fell in love with Glass Blowing. From 2018-19, he was a Fuego Youth Leader in that...
A Reimagined Fuego Youth Leadership Program For Summer 2020
Like most things, we weren’t sure our Fuego Youth Leadership Program would run this summer. But with modifications to shelter-in-place orders, the introduction of new health and...
How 2019 Fuego Leaders Found Friendship At The Crucible
For the first time in the Fuego Youth Leadership Program’s 10-year history, we invited first and second year leaders to work together for four weeks of collaboration, culminating...
Give A Warm Welcome To Our 2019 New Fuego Leaders
This year, in honor of Fuego’s tenth anniversary, we have expanded the program to be four weeks long, where both years work and learn together....
High Schoolers Make Waves In The Studio
This summer, our second year Fuego Youth Leaders were in for a surprise. They returned to the studios, ready to get to work, only to find out they had been commissioned to create...
High Schoolers Inspire In The Studio
Our 2018 Fuego Youth Leaders blew us away with their final projects! See what they made in the studio....
See What Fuego Youth Leaders Gained for Life
Our 2017 Fuego Youth Leaders had a great summer, shadowing instructors, working as teaching assistants, visiting local industrial arts studios, and making final projects in their...
Commission Our Leaders For Your Next Project
Our Fuego Leaders design, create, and fabricate community and public art—from welded bike bridges to community chicken coops. We make sure Oakland is built by Oakland.
What They Have To Say
“The Crucible has broadened my horizons. There are so many different people and when you meet people your working with them or learning from them it’s a good way to get your self out there and find new opportunities.”
– Rocky Boikanyo
“My art is a way of finding a happy place, but also to see the reality of the world and what people go through. I want my art to show things that words can’t explain.”
– Bri Medina
“At school I am rather limited in the media I can use, but at The Crucible I can expand my skills and my work. The facilities here give me an opportunity to make art I would not be able to otherwise, and that opportunity is incredibly valuable to me.”
-Rowen Sanford-Eckhaus
“Glass is a white, male dominated art. I haven’t seen myself represented in Glass Flameworking very often, so just being here and being me is important.”
– C’Zarriah Davis-Smith
“Thanks to Fuego, I really developed my leadership skills. If I ever need to take control of a situation, I can.”
– Alex Orcutt
“I am very quiet person. Teaching the classes has really helped with public speaking skills and not getting really anxious when I have speak in front of a group.”
-Sabrina Brickner