Young Artists Gear Up to Play with Fire This Summer
The Crucible Presents Its Sixth Year of Youth Summer Camp in Industrial Arts
Oakland, CA, April 06, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The Crucible (www.thecrucible.org), a nonprofit industrial art school, will host its 6th annual Youth Summer Camp with 101 classes spanning over four weeks. The camps run June 27-July 1, July 18-22, July 25-29, and August 1-5, and campers can choose from a full or half-day experience.
The Crucible’s Summer Camp classes range from blacksmithing, three different types of welding, Radical Robots, Adventures in Sand Casting, jewelry, ceramics and the newest addition, glass blowing. The camps are segmented into age appropriate classes for youth ages 8-11 and 12-17.
The Crucible launched its Fired Up Youth Program back in 2005 and started with one week of summer camp that included 5 classes. Since then the program’s popularity has sparked its growth faster than staff could predict. Back in 2005 the program hosted 24 young artists and this year the program expects over 900 youths.
“The growth of these programs has been a true testament to the dedication and hard work of all of the staff and faculty who feel passionately about teaching industrial arts. Students are guided through a creative process, whether blacksmithing, welding, foundry or glass work that then feeds the creative whole. The momentum of this excitement builds from year to year and is contagious,” explains Carla Hall, Youth Program Director. “To see the buzz of students during a camp week and the level of inspiration they have on each other's experience is amazing.”
These camps not only bring young artists into the community of artists at The Crucible, but also introduce them to like-minded peers. They explore their own creativity and forge new friendships. They are empowered to use their minds and their hands in concert to make industrial art from scratch and walk away feeling a stronger sense of self-confidence. At the end of each week, students showcase their new creations in a gallery walk, which parents are invited to attend.
“Kids learn here that what they do matters, and what they make can have a positive effect on others in their community,” says Bonnie Heras, Youth Program Assistant.
“Our summer youth camps create an environment where people become one again with the parts of society we aren’t used to anymore. Everything is so computerized now; we’ve forgotten what it feels like to make things with our hands. We end up using all of these different things in daily life, and we never stop to ask how they are made. After a week in one of our summer camps, students walk away not only with an understanding of how things are made, but also the self-confidence to know that they can make things, that this stuff is within reach,” explains Ismael Plasencia, Youth and Community Program Assistant Manager.
Classes feature a low student to teacher ratio and focus on quality hours of instructional time. The cost of each class varies, but encompasses instructor time, cost of materials and equipment.
In addition to summer camps, The Crucible has an array for classes for youngsters year-round. There are weekend intensives and after-school classes. Another popular program is the Family Fun Weekends where young artists can take a class together with a parent or guardian at a discounted price.
“A young girl started the first day of glass flameworking summer camp with her head down, shaggy hair completely obscuring her face, shoulders slumped forward. Students in our class work independently, and her hands proved skillful as she learned the craft with quiet focus and concentration,” shares Tara Murray, Crucible Glass Flameworking instructor. “She gained confidence in her own abilities, and this in turn gave her self-confidence within the group; by the end of the week, she was sitting up, engaged, curious eyes wide open, her hair tied back in a red bandanna. Her last journal page was filled with drawings of herself at the torch, wearing her bandanna, saying, ‘Goodbye fire.’ I'm pretty sure she meant the torch, because I saw some fire in her that I think she'll be keeping.”
Photos of youth students can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecrucible
About The Crucible
The Crucible is a nonprofit arts education center that fosters a collaboration of arts, industry and community by teaching and showcasing fire, metal, glass and light art. Founded in 1999, The Crucible offers more than 600 classes annually to nearly 5,000 students in everything from bronze casting to neon, welding to glass working, blacksmithing to fire dancing, textiles to woodworking. Visit our website for more information: www.thecrucible.org.
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The Crucible’s Summer Camp classes range from blacksmithing, three different types of welding, Radical Robots, Adventures in Sand Casting, jewelry, ceramics and the newest addition, glass blowing. The camps are segmented into age appropriate classes for youth ages 8-11 and 12-17.
The Crucible launched its Fired Up Youth Program back in 2005 and started with one week of summer camp that included 5 classes. Since then the program’s popularity has sparked its growth faster than staff could predict. Back in 2005 the program hosted 24 young artists and this year the program expects over 900 youths.
“The growth of these programs has been a true testament to the dedication and hard work of all of the staff and faculty who feel passionately about teaching industrial arts. Students are guided through a creative process, whether blacksmithing, welding, foundry or glass work that then feeds the creative whole. The momentum of this excitement builds from year to year and is contagious,” explains Carla Hall, Youth Program Director. “To see the buzz of students during a camp week and the level of inspiration they have on each other's experience is amazing.”
These camps not only bring young artists into the community of artists at The Crucible, but also introduce them to like-minded peers. They explore their own creativity and forge new friendships. They are empowered to use their minds and their hands in concert to make industrial art from scratch and walk away feeling a stronger sense of self-confidence. At the end of each week, students showcase their new creations in a gallery walk, which parents are invited to attend.
“Kids learn here that what they do matters, and what they make can have a positive effect on others in their community,” says Bonnie Heras, Youth Program Assistant.
“Our summer youth camps create an environment where people become one again with the parts of society we aren’t used to anymore. Everything is so computerized now; we’ve forgotten what it feels like to make things with our hands. We end up using all of these different things in daily life, and we never stop to ask how they are made. After a week in one of our summer camps, students walk away not only with an understanding of how things are made, but also the self-confidence to know that they can make things, that this stuff is within reach,” explains Ismael Plasencia, Youth and Community Program Assistant Manager.
Classes feature a low student to teacher ratio and focus on quality hours of instructional time. The cost of each class varies, but encompasses instructor time, cost of materials and equipment.
In addition to summer camps, The Crucible has an array for classes for youngsters year-round. There are weekend intensives and after-school classes. Another popular program is the Family Fun Weekends where young artists can take a class together with a parent or guardian at a discounted price.
“A young girl started the first day of glass flameworking summer camp with her head down, shaggy hair completely obscuring her face, shoulders slumped forward. Students in our class work independently, and her hands proved skillful as she learned the craft with quiet focus and concentration,” shares Tara Murray, Crucible Glass Flameworking instructor. “She gained confidence in her own abilities, and this in turn gave her self-confidence within the group; by the end of the week, she was sitting up, engaged, curious eyes wide open, her hair tied back in a red bandanna. Her last journal page was filled with drawings of herself at the torch, wearing her bandanna, saying, ‘Goodbye fire.’ I'm pretty sure she meant the torch, because I saw some fire in her that I think she'll be keeping.”
Photos of youth students can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecrucible
About The Crucible
The Crucible is a nonprofit arts education center that fosters a collaboration of arts, industry and community by teaching and showcasing fire, metal, glass and light art. Founded in 1999, The Crucible offers more than 600 classes annually to nearly 5,000 students in everything from bronze casting to neon, welding to glass working, blacksmithing to fire dancing, textiles to woodworking. Visit our website for more information: www.thecrucible.org.
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Contact
The Crucible
Jennifer Harrity
510-444-0919 Ext. 123
www.thecrucible.org
Jennifer Harrity
510-444-0919 Ext. 123
www.thecrucible.org
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