Fuego Youth Leadership Program
The Fuego Youth Leadership Program is an opportunity for high school students to deepen their technical understanding of the industrial arts and build leadership skills by supporting The Crucible’s Youth Summer Camps. Fuego Leaders progress from immersive creative classwork to the exploration of possible career opportunities in the arts.
2023 Fuego Youth Leadership Applications are now closed.
Meet Our Fuego Youth Leaders
Each year, up to ten high school students, including returning participants, are selected for our Fuego Youth Leadership Program. During the four-week program, youth are paired with a faculty mentor who helps them develop technical and artistic skills while completing a project of their own.
Fuego Youth Leaders also support instructors during summer camps, performing demonstrations and assisting youth students during class time. Fuego Youth Leaders are encouraged to return for a second consecutive summer.
High School Students Share Final Projects During 2022 Fuego Reception
This summer, after two years of pandemic-altered programming, we welcomed ten new and returning high school students to The Crucible for our annual four-week Fuego Youth Leadership...
When The Student Becomes The Teacher: Ben Lockwood-Johnston
In 2016, just before his freshman year of high school, Ben Lockwood-Johnston took his first Crucible class—Youth Blacksmithing Immersion. Over the next couple of years, he explored...
Please Welcome Our 2022 Fuego Youth Leaders
This week, eleven high school students came together at The Crucible to begin their four-week Furgo Youth leadership Program. The program, now in its thirteenth year, is an...
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....
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