About

At The Crucible®, West Oakland’s nonprofit arts education facility, adults and young people can unleash their inner creative genius with more than 400 classes including blacksmithing, jewelry-making, glass, neon, woodworking, and even flaming hula hoop. The Crucible gives people from all walks of life the tools to be innovative, playful, and exercise their imaginations.  

If you’ve always wanted to weld, work with glass, make jewelry, dance with fire, pour bronze, or learn other industrial arts, you’ve found the right place. At The Crucible, beginners are encouraged, and no experience is necessary. You can safely learn the skills you need while working on projects.

If you’re an experienced artist or craftperson wanting to develop new skills, you can enroll in advanced classes—and take advantage of opportunities to use The Crucible’s facility and equipment. Enrolling in a Studio Access Lab gives you access to our equipment so that you can work on your own projects.

Our hands-on classes average one instructor for every six students, guaranteeing that every student receives personal attention. Our expert instructors have extensive real-world experience and a passion for what they teach.

The Crucible was founded in 1999 by a small group of artists led by Michael Sturtz, and is committed to promoting creative expression, reuse of materials, and innovative design through a wide variety of classes and community services.  Dedicated to the creative use of fire and light, The Crucible is also known for its innovative and stunning public events and fundraisers, uniting artists from diverse disciplines.  The proceeds of every event directly benefit our Youth and Adult Class Program.

Our major events usually come in between our four semesters. We hold several Open Houses, each year, as well as major fundraisers, like our Anniversary Celebration, The Fire Arts Festival®, and special benefit productions like Fire Ballets (Romeo & Juliet, Firebird, and Dracul), and Fire Operas (Dido and Aeneas and Seven Deadly Sins) and The Fire Odyssey.