2020 Member Registration Guide: The Best And Brightest

You will learn more than a whittle bit in this Woodworking class. Tackle basic principles of working with wood while making your own carved wooden spoon. Topics covered include different types of wood, grain direction, carving, shaping, and food safe finishes. Through short demonstrations and lectures, we will use a combination of power and hand tools, exploring the material for its functionality as a creative medium. At the end of the workshop, students leave with a unique spoon, ready to use!

Your art is on fire–literally! Learn to design and build safe, effective, beautiful flame effect sculptures with propane. You will learn many different ways of manipulating fire for use in sculpture, including accumulator poofer effects, propane and liquid fuel effects, igniters, and electronic controls.

PREREQUISITE: Fire Safety

Learn blacksmithing taught by women, for women! This class covers the fundamentals needed to forge steel and understand blacksmithing tools. We will introduce tapering, upsetting, flattening, dishing, and bending of hot steel—all the same skills and techniques as in Blacksmithing I, but in an all-female environment. You will make small projects, such as spoons, knives, forks, and hooks. Read why creating women’s only spaces matters.

Spend a weekend weaving wire into beautiful works of wearable art. When properly softened, wire can be used to emulate thread and then woven into jewelry, basketry, woven tapestries, clothing, and more! You will learn to manipulate copper and brass wire—changing the size, shape, and hardness to fit your needs. Then using basic weaving patterns, you will create a bracelet, pendant, or ring of your own design.

Enameling enthusiast, this is the class for you! Hone your artistic skills with renowned enamel artist Roberta Smith and the intricate, scientific process of cloisonné enameling. Use the rich, subtle, and distinctive colors of transparent and opalescent enamels on fine silver to create small pieces of jewelry or artwork. Students learn painterly shading techniques and high-gloss polishing.

PREREQUISITE: Enameling I

Use your class time to make your growing plant a new home or tackle larger ceramic sculpture. Explore techniques for making larger ceramic forms that can survive the kiln! Practice handbuilding techniques like coiling and pinching, as well as more advanced sculpting techniques to create a one-of-a-kind piece that will dazzle any home. Size limited to 24″ x 18″ x 18″ and 1″ thick.

PREREQUISITE: Ceramics I or ceramics experience

This is the coolest class on four wheels! Build your very own custom skateboard from seven layers of hard maple veneer. Learn to shape a foam mold, the woodworking techniques, and the concepts of vacuum press veneering for bending wood. You will practice using basic woodworking power tools, including the band saw and power sanders, as well as hand tools, such as files, rasps, and planes. Apply a basic wood finish and set up your skateboard deck to ride.

011010111010, know what we mean? Learn how to design your own 3D sculptures. In this course, you will explore a variety of 3D modeling software techniques and the basic ways to construct objects. Each student will design at least one object, which we will print and have available for pick-up by the following weekend.

Mini monsters with big personalities await your kiddos! Students will be taken on a journey to explore colorful glass beads, expressive figurines, and creatures with unique features, using an oxy-propane torch and soft glass. We will cover bead surface patterns, shaping and forming glass, and take inspiration from the wild things among us.

Oakland bike-riders know better than anyone there’s a pothole war out there. Let us help you fight back! Learn to properly uninstall a wheel and fix a flat on a bicycle. You will learn both good and bad tube installation techniques, as well as proper tire level options and when and where it is appropriate to use patches.