YOU’RE INVITED!

The Crucible’s Fall Community Open House & Art Show

Saturday, Sept. 12th
12noon to 4PM
FREE Admission!

Experience many of the fabulous things West Oakland has to offer at our Open House. Browse an expo of amazing community organizations that bring vital services to our diverse neighborhood and enjoy an art show highlighting the talents of our students and faculty – all amid flying sparks and blazing forges. This is a family-friendly event with music and fire performances, food and fun for all ages and the best part - it’s FREE!

Activities Include:
• An expo of community organizations committed to serving Oakland
• A fiery metal pour in the foundry
• Awesome live performances of fire, music and dance
• Exciting demonstrations and hands-on activities in welding, glass working,
metal casting, and blacksmithing
• Student art show displaying the creativity of The Crucible’s community
• Tasty Food & Refreshments

Artist Reception at The Crucible’s Cathedral Gallery

Thursday, September 17 5-8PM

The Crucible recently opened a gallery in the historic Cathedral Building, located at the triangle between Broadway and Telegraph Avenues in downtown Oakland. The gallery features illuminated and kinetic art, and other sculptural works reflecting the immense pool of talented artists working in the East Bay and showcasing many of the techniques taught at The Crucible.

Please join us for an artists’ reception, in conjunction with Third Thursdays Oakland Art Night. Exhibiting artists, Jay Bridgland, Michael Shiloh, Michael Curry, Carla Hall, Mari Upton, Ed Kirshner, Rob Nehring, Billy Hiebert, Christian Schiess, and others will be there to share insights about works executed in glass, metal, neon, plasma, wood and rubber.

More info...

End of Summer Samplers

Saturday Sept. 19 and Sunday Sept. 20
Morning Session - 10AM-1PM
Afternoon Session - 2-5PM

We have a hard time letting go of summer at The Crucible, so we set up this great weekend of sampler classes that give you a chance to learn something new in a very short time. But after learning how to bend metal, melt glass, shape clay, make jewelry, or create your own castings, we think you’ll be back this fall for more. Register for two samplers on the same day and you’ll get a $15 discount!

These affordable three-hour classes make great gifts, or get together with family and friends to explore: Blacksmithing • Clay • Glass Flameworking • Glass Fusing • Jewelry • MIG Welding • Sand or Resin Casting

Sign up now...

Aluminum Sand Casting photos by Mark Rozhin

Fused Glass by Katie Broughton photos by Sherrie Thai

Jewelry - anneling metal photos by Becca Jay

HOT FALL CLASSES

Back to school, back to work, but NOT back to boring.

Fall classes begin this month, and each department and studio is ready to help you get your make on. Whether your interest is in metal, glass, clay, electronics, wood, neon or fire performance; whether you are a beginner or a pro, you’ll find something at The Crucible to spark your imagination.
Check out these classes starting soon:

Blacksmithing:
Intro to Blacksmithing - 5 sessions, starts September 29
Continuing Techniques – 5 sessions, starts September 30
Build Your Own Propane Forge - 8 sessions, starts September 28

Ceramics:
Sculpting in Clay – 6 sessions, starts September 30
NEW – Mata Ortiz Potter Workshop – A special weekend workshop where you will learn traditional techniques from master potter, Pilo Mora, October 3 and 4

Fire Performance:
Art of Fire Dancing (Poi) – 10 sessions, starts September 28
Intermediate & Advanced Poi – 5 sessions, starts September 29
NEW Intermediate Fire Hoop – 10 sessions, starts October 1

Foundry:
Bronze Casting: Ceramic Shell Process – 10 sessions, starts September 28
Continuing Techniques in Foundry – 5 sessions, starts October 1

Glass:
Glass Flameworking – 5 session classes start September 28; Mondays or Wednesdays
Glass Beads – 5 sessions, starts September 29
Fusing & Slumping 1 – 5 session classes, starts September 28, Mondays or Thursdays
Kiln-Cast Glass – 5 sessions, starts September 29
Glass Coldworking & Engraving – 5 sessions, starts September 28
NEW Model, Mold and Cast Glass – 6 sessions, starting September 26; a rare opportunity to learn skills from three professional artists
Glass Fusing Lab – 10 sessions, starts September 29

Jewelry:
Introduction to Jewelry & Metals – 5 sessions, starts September 28 Mondays or Wednesdays
Continuing Techniques in Jewelry – 5 sessions, starts September 29
NEW Stone Setting – Weekend workshop, October 3-4

Kinetics & Electronics:
Introduction to Mechanical Sculpture – 5 sessions, starts September 28
Electromechanics for Everything – 5 sessions, starts September 30

Neon & Light:
Introduction to Neon – 5 sessions, starts September 26
Continuing Techniques in Neon – 5 sessions, starts September 26
Plasma Sculpture – 10 sessions, starts September 30

Welding:
Exploring Welding – Weekend intensive introduces four types of welding, Spetember 26-27
Introduction to Welded Sculpture – 5 sessions, Starts September 28; Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays
Introduction to MIG Welding – 5 sessions, Starts September 29; Tuesdays or Wednesdays
Furniture Fabrication and MIG Welding – 10 sessions, starts September 28
Beginning TIG – 5 sessions, starts September 28; Mondays or Tuesdays
Sculpting with TIG – 5 sessions, starts September 30

Woodworking:
Fundamentals of Woodworking – Weekend Intensive September 26-27
Beginning Woodworking – 10 sessions, starts September 29
Continuing Techniques in Woodworking – 10 sessions, starts September 30

Corporate Teambuilding at The Crucible

If your workplace uses retreats or teambuilding events to get you motivated, thinking, or working well together, tell them about the Corporate Teambuilding workshops available here at The Crucible. Your team will be challenged in a unique environment, learn new skills and how to creatively solve problems. We’ll put together a program that fits your team’s goals and sparks your imagination; and we guarantee it’s way more fun than a scavenger hunt or building a pizza together.

For more information contact Rob Nehring at (510) 444-0919 or visit us online.

Youth Classes

Glass Flameworking – Weekend Intensive, September 26-27

After school classes begin in October – register early for classes in blacksmithing, flameworking, robots, or welding.

Youth Labs begin October 20 – Now your youngster can access our facilities after school for independent projects and practice in Blacksmithing, Flameworking, and Welding.

Fired Up! Summer Camp Recap

This summer we saw more students and held more classes than ever before: 543 students from all five Bay Area counties, plus Shasta and Los Angeles counties, and even Oregon, enjoyed 62 classes over four sessions of camp.
During the summer, we hosted 8 gallery artists receptions, gave away 1,200 t-shirts, thousands of fruit snacks, and 600 water bottles. One hundred faculty members and thirty volunteers helped make this year’s summer camp a great success.

Thank you to Bay Cities Pyrotector for their sponsorship which allowed us to provide each camper with a reusable water bottle. Their generosity

FAMILY FUN WEEKEND – HALLOWEEN FUN

October 31-November 1

These special weekends give you the chance to spend time with those you love while you both learn something new and create with your hands. Find someone you want to explore with and treat yourselves to a new trick this fall. Tuition is discounted for the second person when you sign up for Family Fun classes. Choose from:

• Blacksmithing
• Glass Flameworking
• Jewelry
• Welded Sculpture
• MIG Welding
• TIG Welding
• Woodturning

Enamelist Society Conference at The Crucible

We were honored to host workshops in conjunction with “Surfacing,” the Society’s annual international conference. Enamel artists from around the world converged in our studios in August to share new and old techniques and explore the boundaries of their art, from spinning copper to photo transfers to raku-fired enamels, and much more.

If you’d like to see examples of phenomenal work check these exhibitions:

• "The Enamel Show" at Velvet Da Vinci Gallery
in SF through September 13, 2009

• "Fred Ball Enamels" at the San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design
through October 4, 2009

And if you are inspired to explore the world of enameling yourself, our enamel studio is back in business with great Fall classes like these, all starting in October or November:

• Introduction to Enameling
• Small Scale Cloisonne Enameling
• A Primer in 3D Enameling
• Enameled Beads
• Ginbari with Enamels

Shout-Out to the Citizens of Black Rock

The Crucible is proud to be the fiscal sponsor of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship, Black Rock City’s newest scientific expedition. Sean Orlando describes it as a rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday's tomorrow and the future that never was, a critical kitsch somewhere between The Moons of Mongo & Manga Nouveau. This amazing project was recently profiled by Sean Donnelly of the Oakland Tribune, and if you’re not able to see it on the Playa, check it out here:

Space helmets off to the entire team of artists, fabricators, scientists, rocketeers and dreamers who have collaborated to get this project off the ground…or at least to the Playa.