Welded sculpture by Adrian Rodriguez

Adrian Rodriguez has been a lifelong artist, but it was only after discovering The Crucible with the help of his high school teacher, did he start realizing his full potential as an industrial artist. In this interview with writer, Sarah Dabby, Adrian takes us on his artistic journey and offers pithy advice for getting ready for the 8th Annual Fire & Light: Soirée and Art Auction — “Bring some money! And dress nicely.” Well said, Adrian! Though we would also add — expect the spectacular!

Sarah Dabby: Let’s start with the basics.

Adrian Rodriguez: My name is Adrian Rodriguez. I was born in Oakland and raised in Richmond, right outside the iron triangle. I went to Richmond High School.

SD: How’d you discover The Crucible?

AR: My English teacher, Ms. Rooney, thought I had really good artistic potential, so one day she gave me an application to this place called The Crucible.  I signed it and gave it to her the next day, and I thought, “Why would anyone name a place The Crucible?  Was it after a book?”  I didn’t know anything about it, but I gave the application to her, and that summer, I took blacksmithing and ARC Welding.

SD: Why do you think Ms. Rooney gave you an application?

AR: She saw my drawings, and she hadn’t seen my drawings before – so she thought I had good potential to be an artist, and an industrial artist.

SD: How long have you been drawing?

AR: As long as I can remember – on my earliest memories, I was scribbling on my mom’s walls. She was probably mad at me!

SD: What classes did you start with at The Crucible?

AR: My first class was blacksmithing.  I had been growing my hair out long, and it was really hot in there.  The first day it was about 95-100 degrees, so I’d go to the fan every time I put my metal into the heat.  So I was glad I had welding; it was in cold air with cement and metal…I was really happy to work in welding.

SD: What was your first day like?

AR: I was hooked. Both Blacksmithing and ARC Welding paved the way for me to join The Crucible.  Blacksmithing, you use tools to make tools.  The blacksmiths were the ‘cool people’ back in the day, so that’s fun.  I like welding better in a way – I draw, and I’m able to manipulate the metal to make my drawings 3-D.

SD: Tell me about your first sculpture, and how you’ve grown since then.

AR: My first sculpture is a little man.  It was supposed to be 3-D, but it’s 2-D in a way. I keep it in my house.  Since then, I think I’ve made a total of 15-16 sculptures, and the ones I’ve been doing recently – I can’t believe

Dear Community Members, Friends, Family Members, Passers-By, Colleagues, and Artists Everywhere,

We’re excited to announce that The Crucible has been chosen as one of 200 finalists in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook Challenge! Our “Bikes for West Oakland” initiative is now in the running to receive a $25,000 through a crowd-sourced, voter-based contest on Facebook. YOUR votes determine who wins the grant – which means we need YOUR support to make this happen.

Our bike programs are the heart and soul of our community programs. With Bike Fix-a-Thons, Earn-a-Bike, Art Bike, bike donations, and drop-in repair times, we offer the West Oakland community access to valuable job skills, to goods and services, and healthy, affordable, eco-friendly transportation options. We donate bikes to community members, organizations and toy drives, we use bikes as functional art – and use bike parts to make even more art, and we ride our bikes to work. We love bikes – but more importantly, we love how bikes empower our community, and are hungry to empower many more.

From now until April 22, we’ll educate the community about our bike programs, we’ll explore how $25,000 can impact those bike programs, and we’ll share the stories of people whose lives have been changed by bikes. And as we hope to carry you all on this journey, we’ll count on you to take part in this movement by VOTING for our cause and SHARING this initiative with your community.

At The Crucible, we fuel our fire by giving back to our community. Now, we’ve been presented with a huge opportunity to do so.

Let’s make it happen.

Love,
The Crucible