Remembering A Great 2019
For The Crucible, 2019 ended as one of the best on record: We celebrated 20 years of art-making, expanded our youth programs, piloted over 30 new courses and curriculum, deepened our community connections, and with your support, even bought a new fire truck to help increase off-site community engagement.
While 2020 looks very different, the incredible engagement of our community has helped us continue forward. In this report, look back at everything you—our students and partners—helped The Crucible accomplish.
19,500+
Students Taught At The CrucibleProvided inspiring educational experiences to over 14,000 adults and 5,500 young people
20 Years
Of Making ArtCelebrated 20 years of art making with over 20 new class offerings, signature art reveals, and so much more
750+
Youth At Field Trip DaysWelcomed 750+ students at 3 free Field Trip Days, giving students a close-up view of the industrial arts while sparking interdisciplinary connections to science and social studies
$113,000
Scholarships for Youth and AdultsDistributed $113,000 in youth and adult class scholarships to participate in the fine and industrial arts
$11,000+
Invested in The Makers of TomorrowInvested in the makers of tomorrow with 15 paid leadership and workforce development positions for youth ages 15-18, awarding over $11,000 in compensation
34
Bay Area School PartnersPartnered with 34 Bay Area schools to provide field trips, workshops, hands-on presentations, and studio tours
Wowed At Field Trip Day
Over 750 K-12 Bay Area students came to our 56,000 square-foot studio to witness the art of glass blowing, welding, blacksmithing, and more, sparking interdisciplinary connections to STEAM learning
More than 350 youth came from Oakland, with 93% of all attendees participating at no cost to their school
Getting Folks Back on Wheels
Over 160 bikes were repaired for free during four Fix-A-Thon events with 500 volunteer and staff hours helping 160+ community members regain access to safe and reliable transportation
20 youth students learned bicycle mechanic skills in the Earn-A-Bike Program, repairing one for themselves and donating the second back to the shop
Ensuring Arts Access
For the first time ever, The Crucible ran five Spring Camps completely free for Oakland youth, ages 12-15, to get hands-on in making in jewelry, glass, neon, and more
The Crucible recommitted to its adult scholarship program, funding 19 adults, as well as scholarships for over 220 youth, totaling over $113,000 in industrial arts classes for our community
Expanded Signature Fuego Youth Leadership Program
The Crucible expanded our 2-week internship program into one 4-week program where first- and second-year Fuegos worked together in advanced training, leadership development, and in partnership with a mentor artist
15 young artists ages 15-18 developed their artistic practice, leadership, and workforce skills and were awarded over $11,000 in compensation
Integrating Industrial Arts With Schools
The Crucible began a three-year partnership with West Oakland’s McClymonds High School to provide a comprehensive art and maker learning during the school day
25 students completed 3,000 hours of instruction at The Crucible, working with high-end industrial tools and equipment under the guidance and training of professional artists
Fostering Entrepreneurship
With Centro Community Partners, The Crucible hosted a nine-week program designed to help artisans and craftspeople launch small businesses with a focus on recruiting and supporting underserved entrepreneurs
15 local entrepreneurs participated in the program and received additional advisory services and leadership support
But 2020 Is A New World—And A New Crucible
On March 15, The Crucible team made the difficult decision to close our doors to protect our community of artists, students, and staff and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Two days later all businesses in Alameda County were ordered to close.
Due to generous support from our donor community, The Crucible started a Community Emergency Relief Fund to support our community’s emergency food and housing costs.
To date, we have distributed over $43,000 to over 170 Crucible staff and faculty.
We started a Virtual Artist Talks series to bring our community together virtually, interviewing eight artists from a range of disciplines including glass, jewelry, fire performance, ceramics, and more.
Over 300 guests tuned in from all over the country and all of our artists experienced jumps in sales after participating.
With 56,000 square feet, The Crucible knew it was possible to welcome back students during a pandemic, but some upgrades were needed to our studio.
We installed foot pedal operated sinks and toilet seat coverings, sprayed all high touch surfaces with an antimicrobial coating, invested in new safety signage and health screening protocols, and reimagined our class sizes and layouts to maximize space between students.
ABC LocalishSpot On The Crucible Re-Opening
Posted by Facebook on Tuesday, July 14, 2020
The Crucible re-opened to run our Summer Youth Camps and Fuego Youth Leadership Program. With completely new health and safety policies in place, we knew that youth camps would be different this year, but campers absolutely blew us away with their care and consideration for keeping each other safe and their focused execution of high-quality work.
You can see photos from all of our 2020 Youth Summer Camps here.
Rededicating to our scholarship program
Now more than ever, fully remote learning is adversely impacting the socio-emotional and academic development of our young people, particularly families with limited financial resources. That’s why we are raising funds to expand our offerings and scholarships for in-person, hands-on classes for young people ages 8-18 so that all parents—regardless of income—can have supplemental, enhanced learning experiences for their youth.
In our pilot program this fall, we are saving over 50% of spots for young people of color and low-income youth and families, who attend Oakland public schools or Title 1 schools.
Caring for our community
It is clear that for both The Crucible and our community of working artists, this crisis is nowhere near over. That’s why The Crucible is committed to continuing our relief efforts for the remainder of this year. That means continuing to provide free groceries, provide studio rent subsidies for those who need it, help our artists sell their work, and distribute relief funds through The Crucible’s Community Emergency Relief Fund.
By the end of this year, we will have diverted over $65,000 in support directly to our community of staff and working artists through food relief, cash awards, rent abatement, and art sales.
Investing in our Bike Program
The Crucible is steadily reinvigorating bike programming for our community through reimagined Bike Fix-A-Thons, refurbishing bikes for sale at multiple price points, and collaborating with partner bike organizations to increase access to safe and affordable transportation. Safe bike transportation is more important now than ever, and The Crucible continues to support our community with expert bike maintenance and care.
By the end of this year, The Crucible will have repaired over 150 bikes for free for our community members.
We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You
We started this year ready to build on all of the successes of 2019—but the plan changed. The only reason The Crucible was able to re-open our doors for Youth Camps in July, and restart our scholarship program in August is because of YOU and the amazing institutional donors who support us. We hope to see you in the studios soon—thank you!
11 West Partners, LLC
AB&I Foundry
AmazonSmile Foundation
AppLovin
The Barrios Trust
Bay Cities Pyrotector
Beneficial State Foundation and Beneficial State Bank
Bently Foundation
Best Buy Foundation
California Arts Council
CASS Inc.
City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program
Clif Bar Family Foundation
The Clorox Company Foundation
Crescent Porter Hale Foundation
Enamelist Society
The Eucalyptus Foundation
First Republic Bank
Google
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Hellman Foundation
Karl and Alice Ruppenthal Foundation for the Arts
Kelson Foundation
McGrath Properties
Miranda Lux Foundation
The Morris Stulsaft Foundation
NetTempo
New Belgium Brewing Company
Oakland Art Association
Oakland Athletics
Orton Development
Panoramic Interests
PG&E Corporation Foundation
Port of Oakland
Salesforce.org
Sam Mazza Foundation
Square
State Compensation Insurance Fund
StopWaste
Stuart Foundation
Taylor Stitch
The Unity Council
Warriors Community Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation