Faculty Focus – Patricia Chavez

Fire Performance, Welding & Blacksmithing

Patricia Chavez, a transplant from Tijuana, Mexico, moved to Bay Area to study psychology. After completing her BA, she realized that her true passion did not lie there but in the arts. Initially gravitating to the world of music, she satisfied her growing fascination with metal work by taking welding classes at The Crucible. Although you can still catch her dj-ing in San Francisco at John Colins’s Happy Hour every first Friday, Patricia can usually be found at The Crucible – either teaching a class, in MIG welding or square fabrication, while fabricating her custom fire eating torches in the smithy, or practicing her fiery arts.

While working at The Crucible as an Assistant Studio Manager, Patricia’s curious nature soon had her learning fire eating, fire breathing, and rope dart. Now proficient at fire performance, Patricia not only teaches, but performs regularly at many events, and recently was featured in the indie film “Daily Grind” and is preparing to shoot a performance for a death metal video for the Drummer from Hell.

The overall aesthetic of Patricia’s personal artwork tends to be minimal in nature; she pays close attention to the execution of her work while enjoying the challenges and revelations of the fabrication process. She has collaborated in the fabrication of a number of large scale art installations, and is currently helping on the Raygun Gothic Rocket project.