Events

Since 1999, The Crucible has brought our community of artists, neighbors, families, students, and makers together for events ranging from artists’ talks and demos to fire performances, benefits, and community open houses. For updates about all upcoming events, subscribe to our newsletter.

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Important Dates

  • December 23, 2023 – January 1, 2024: Crucible closed for winter break
  • January 8 – January 12: Weeklong Adult Classes
  • January 15: The Crucible’s 25th Birthday!
  • February 29: Field Trip Day
  • March 2: West Oakland Bike Summit
  • March 7: Field Trip Day
  • April 18: Field Trip Day
  • May 9: Field Trip Day
  • June 10 – July 26: Youth Summer Camps
  • July 25: Fuego Youth Leadership Reception
  • July 29: GIFTY vendor applications open
  • August 12 – 23: Weeklong Adult Classes
  • September 7: Open Studios
  • December 7 & 8: GIFTY 2024

Upcoming Events

Bike Shop: Free Events and Education

See our Bike Shop event page for upcoming event dates.

The Crucible is offering free, community bike maintenance and education to West Oakland and neighboring community members through our quarterly Bike Fix-A-Thons, Open Bike Shop Hours, Femme Bike Night, and Flat Fix Clinics. Drop off your bike for a tune-up or learn basic bike maintenance skills from our faculty and volunteers. We are also leading offsite events at other West Oakland locations.

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Free Crucible Tours

Join us for a free, semi-monthly Crucible tour! Learn about the history of our 56,000-square-foot studio, the art and artists that make our space unique, and our nonprofit mission to keep the industrial and fine arts accessible to all.

To accommodate different schedules, tours alternate between Saturday afternoons at 2pm and Thursday evenings at 6pm.

Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis in person. Feel free to RSVP on Eventbrite: Free Crucible Tours! RSVPs made through Eventbrite are for reminder purposes only and do not act as a reservation. Tours are subject to cancellation.

Please note: a portion of the tour requires the use of stairs.

  • Thursday, May 23: 6pm
  • Saturday, June 8: 2pm
  • Thursday, June 27: 6pm
  • Saturday, July 13: 2pm
  • Thursday, July 25: 6pm
  • Saturday, August 10: 2pm
  • Thursday, August 22: 6pm
  • Saturday, September 7: 2pm
  • Thursday, September 19: 6pm
  • Saturday, October 5: 2pm
  • Thursday, October 17: 6pm
  • Saturday, November 2: 2pm
  • Thursday, November 14: 6pm
  • Saturday, November 30: 2pm
  • Thursday, December 12: 6pm

Can’t wait to see inside?

Check out our virtual 3D Tour by clicking the button below! 

3D Tour

GIFTY: The Crucible’s annual craft show and open house

Find out when vendor applications will open and get answers to frequently asked questions.

Learn more about GIFTY

Browse Past In-person Events

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Lecture Series – Albert Paley

ALBERT PALEY Sunday, October 27, 2002 7:30 – 9:00pm “When I started doing iron, all of a sudden it was a revelation…it became my vehicle for exploration.” Born in Philadelphia in 1944 and internationally acclaimed as a metalsmith artist, Albert Paley is particularly known for his work with ferrous metals as architectural ornamentation. During his thirty-year career, he has moved from jewelry to decorative arts to architectural adornment to sculpture, and is often identified as one of the artists responsible for breaking the boundaries between sculpture, design, and the crafts. Albert will show images of his work and discuss the diversity and significance of his prolific creations in metal. Albert first came to prominence as one of the leading craft jewelers in the United States, but it was his twin foundation of jewelry and metalwork that has forged his legendary career as a metal worker, blacksmith, monumental sculptor or simpley “Master of Metal.” His most famous commission: the portal gates of the Renwick Gallery at The National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. is a testament to masterful design, skill and ability. ABOUT ALBERT PALEY Paley received his BFA and MFA degrees from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. Currently, he is a professor and artist-in-residence holding the Charlotte Fredericks Morris Endowed Chair at the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Paley exhibits nationally and internationally; his work can be found in museums around the world in places such as the the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the White House. Commissioned works are located at Bausch and Lomb’s headquarters in Rochester, and a new courthouse in San Francisco. Paley’s honors include the American Institute of Architects Award of Excellence and honorary Doctorates of Fine Arts from State University of New York at Brockport, St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. In 1997 Paley received the Masters of the Medium award from the Smithsonian Institute.

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Lecture Series – Jackson, Kahn, Hayden

PRESTON JACKSON Figures, Monuments, Steel & Society Figurative Metal Sculpture & the Dialogue of Teaching Sunday, July 28, 2002, 7:30 – 9:30pm Preston Jackson, a leading Chicago artist and educator, is a prime example of an established artist who is exceedingly generous in devoting his time to teaching others, and who seeks to make art accessible to all. Jackson’s bronze figurative work, monumental steel sculpture and small abstract pieces reflect his concerns about the direction society is taking; common themes include protests against war, racism, sexism, violence and injustice. One of Jackson’s major pieces is Bronzeville to Harlem, a large-scale work depicting the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance period. Bronzeville to Harlem consists of 300 small bronze figures in an 125-foot neighborhood of approximately 30 buildings; the painted steel and cast bronze installation continuously evolves with new ideas and images, kinetics, sound and lighting. Join us for a presentation of his work, a discussion about how his teaching philosophy both engages his students and invigorates his art, and a demonstration of his metalworking techniques and processes. Jackson’s commissioned works include “Let’s Play Two”, a sculpture of Ernie Banks at the Chicago ESPNZone; the Martin Luther King Memorial Bust in Danville, IL; a memorial sculpture at the Fire Training Academy, Peoria, IL; and a memorial sculpture to Frederick Douglass in the Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL. Monumental works include the bronze building façade and entry doors at the Cahokia Mounds Museum, Cahokia Mounds, IL. He is represented in numerous collections, including Purdue University, the Union League Club, Illinois State Museum and the University of Illinois. Jackson earned a B.F.A. in painting at Southern Illinois University in 1969, and an M.F.A in sculpture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971. He taught at Millikin University and Western Illinois University before joining the faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1994 to 1996, Jackson was the Chair of the Sculpture Department, and currently serves as the Head of the Figurative Area. In 1998, Jackson was chosen as Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, the highest honor given to individuals in the State. Learn more about Preston Jackson at www.artic.edu/~pjacks. NED KAHN Art, Science and Creation through Chaos Kinetic & Environmental Sculpture Sunday, August 25, 2002, 7:30 – 9:30pm Ned Kahn is a sculptor, kinetic artist and scientific phenomenon visionary, whose internationally acclaimed works both delight the eye and provide visibility into some of nature’s most dynamic systems. Working with fog, wind, sand, fire and light, Kahn’s interactive works respond to their surroundings and swirl, whirl, flow and dance, as tornado vortices illuminate properties of air and water, dunes of sand sculpt ever-changing landscapes, and copper filaments emulate the plate tectonic motion of earthquakes. By blurring the lines between art and science, Kahn coaxes natural phenomenon to reveal their turbulent and complex behaviors, as he manipulates metal, sand and glass to create microcosms of the natural world. Join us for a presentation of his work, a discussion […]

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Lecture Series

The Crucible hosted lively lecture series, featuring artists, artisans and tradespeople who present their work and answer questions about the processes and techniques they use to produce their art. Lectures were held on Sunday evenings, and provide the opportunity to hear from creatives on the vanguard of arts and industry today. Fall 2003 Beverly Pepper: Sculpture, Abstraction, Steel & Environment Fall 2002 Albert Paley: Master of Metal Summer 2002 Preston Jackson: Figures, Monuments, Steel & Society Ned Kahn: Art, Science and Creation through Chaos Michael Hayden: The Art of Luminosity & Light Spring 2002 Lanny Silverman: Kinetic Art and Art & Technology – from a Curator’s Viewpoint Alleghany Meadows: Rhythm, Labor, & Form: Utilitarian Pottery Susan Kingsley: Metalsmithing & Postmodern Alchemy Mike Hill: Monuments of Stone, Metal & Cement

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Lecture Series – Silverman, Meadows, Kingsley, Hill

LANNY SILVERMAN Kinetic Art and Art & Technology from a Curator’s Viewpoint Sunday, July 28, 2002, 7:30 – 9:30pm As a curator, Lanny Silverman is ringmaster of sorts: he choreographs shows that refuse to lie flat on the walls or sit quietly for contemplation. Lanny will discuss the ins, outs, downs and ups of orchestrating exhibitions that feature the works of contemporary and kinetic artists such as Jean Tinguely, Robert Rauschenberg, Dennis Oppenheim, Alice Aycock, Roxy Paine, and Michael Paha. Lanny Silverman has been Curator of exhibitions at The Chicago Cultural Center for over ten years, curating over fifty exhibitions, including The Nature of the Machine, a major survey of kinetic and biokinetic art. Previously, he was Curator of Education and Programming at The Madison Art Center where he managed exhibits of art, new music, performance art and film. Larry has taught in the Education Departments of the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Akron Museum of Art. ALLEGHANY MEADOWS Rhythm, Labor, & Form: Utilitarian Pottery Ceramic sculpture February 24, 2002, 6:30 – 8:30pm Alleghany Meadows seeks alchemy in clay. Join him as he discusses how he uses the plasticity and subtle responses of the medium to create objects that are intimately connected through size, form and surface to both the human body and to nature. His lecture will focus on the creative process within the context of utilitarian pottery, and how his studies in Nepal and Japan have influenced his work. Alleghany Meadows is a studio potter in Carbondale, Colorado. He earned an MFA from Alfred University and a BA from Pitzer College in California. Alleghany studied indigenous pottery in Nepal as a Watson Fellow, and apprenticed in Japan to Karatsu potter Takashi Nakazato. He has taught workshops and lectures at Penland, Greenwich House Pottery, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, and the Mendocino Arts Center. His work is collected and exhibited nationally, and has been featured in over thirty group and solo shows. Learn more about Alleghany Meadows at www.art-stream.com. SUSAN KINGSLEY Metalsmithing & Postmodern Alchemy March 24, 2002, 6:30 – 8:30pm Susan Kingsley makes objects that play perversely with desire and culture of display, and with the constructs of self and sexuality. Join her as she discusses how she uses her work to destabilize accepted definitions or art, craft, gender and the body and to propel the viewer into spaces where meaning begins to fragment and metamorphose. Susan will focus on her recent work and her use of the hydraulic press to transform metal. Susan Kingsley is an independent studio artist living in Carmel, California. She received a BA from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio and an MFA from Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont. A writer on art, craft and feminist issues, she is also the author of the technical book, Hydraulic Die Forming for Jewelers and Metalsmiths. She has taught workshops and lectured throughout the U.S. and Canada and is a part-time instructor at Monterey Peninsula College. She received an NEA/Western states Arts Fellowship for her […]

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Watch Past Virtual Events