ERV, Our Educational Response Vehicle, Returns In Style

We recently had the pleasure of reintroducing ERV (our fire truck-turned-Educational Response Vehicle) to the community during the Old Oakland Block Party hosted by Civic Design Studio. There, our faculty demonstrated techniques in Glass Blowing and Blacksmithing using the small furnace and forge recently fabricated at The Crucible.

For the past few months, our staff and faculty have been working hard to turn ERV into a mobile classroom. The truck was originally purchased in late 2019 with plans to install equipment and start bringing ERV to events in early 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ERV was forced into hibernation, but after two years, our small but mighty fire truck is ready to hit the road.

Our compact furnace and forge are designed to roll on and off the truck so that we can bring our transformative industrial arts programming to folks across the Bay Area. These two pieces of equipment are just the first in our fully outfitted mobile classroom, with plans to add fire effects, a ceramics wheel, and more in the future.

We’re especially excited about the potential impact ERV can have for Bay Area youth students. Reducing barriers like cost and transportation is crucial in fulfilling our mission to keep the industrial arts accessible to all. We look forward to expanding access and seeing you on the road!