I had a very positive experience with the knowledgeable staff at this art supply store. They were more than willing to take the time to help me pick out supplies, and perfectly friendly. Customer service should always be this good :)
Cant say enough about how great this place is. Went as part of a 20-person corporate off-site, and had a blast. The staff was exceptionally helpful in both the planning of the project and in helping the team enjoy the creation experience. So happy we stumbled across this venue. Would certainly go back and try this again!
Bought myself a screen printing class here for my birthday.It was great! Amanda ran us through the basics from burning the screen to pulling prints, and we had plenty of time to practice - I came away with a bushel of thsirts, notebooks, prints, etc. Of course, 3 hours flew by way too fast, I couldve stayed for a few more.
The Crucible is one of the best camps I have ever gone to. Theres an activity for everyone. The projects are so creative and like nothing youd do at other camps. Please consider this camp. You wont regret it.
Best experience ever! Faculty and staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Id go every weekend if I could afford it!
I love the creative energy that comes from the Crucible. It’s present from the moment you walk in the building and it whispers to you to ‘make something’
Took a blacksmith 1 class last weekend and went to only one day out of 2. The class was for children. Some of the participants could not even swing a hammer hard enough to move metal. The instructor was barely in class and spent all his time babysitting children and very little instructing. We were told that parking around the building may get your car broken into. There is hardly any parking at the facility. At lunch a homeless person was pooping by my car in the street. The class had way too many people for 2 forges. Dont waste your money. Get a smaller class size somewhere where it is safe to take classes. You have been warned.
We had a team outing here and did blacksmithing. Overall, it was well received. The instructors were patient with us as we squabbled our way to building our bottle openers. We had individual anvils and shared a furnace, so for a group of 6-7, we got to bond over our shared deficiencies in the smithing arts. It was quite a unique experience for us and Id happily go back.
The Crucible is an arts and building school in Oakland on Seventh Street. I went there with my class to learn about chemistry. I really enjoyed the demonstrations the people showed us and how friendly they were to us. Our teacher brought us there to show us how chemistry looks in real life, outside of a lab. I saw chemistry in action in a number of places. I saw chemistry when acetylene was combined with oxygen in order to create a flame hot enough to cut metal. I saw that when compounds are added to gas they are more able to withstand heat in the neon section. Also in the neon section, I saw the use of the element neon used to make signs and to send a color through pipes. In arc wielding, I saw metal being combined because of heat, definitely another form of chemistry. The last piece of interesting chemistry I saw was how heat changes the way material can be shaped into, including glass and metal. I recommend the Crucible to those who are very interested in science, particularly chemistry. However, I think the person should be in high school, because I dont think it is as interesting if one does not know the faintest idea of why these things happen. Overall, it was a great experience and I recommend it.
The Crucible is a place where they make things you do not see everyday. like water classes and knifes, welding, and more. The crucible is located in Oakland.This past Thursday our class went on a field trip there fore our chem class. We went there to learn about how chemistry is in everyday products that we use. We got to see how they use elements to created other objects.The blacksmith shop was the coolest place that we went to see. Our teacher took us there to show us how the elements are used in everyday life. Here are 5 instances that I saw chemistry in action. Neon booth, Blacksmith shop. Blowing class and melting class. In the jewelry shop we saw how metals are bent and formed. Yes I would got there if I were you it is a great experience for all ages. Maybe if you have certain med issues then you should not go.
Fantastic place for our team building event yesterday. What a way to inspire creativity and teach industrial arts and fine art. My team collectively enjoyed leather craft, glass work, welding, sand aluminum casting, and blacksmithing. All hosted by great staff in an impressive facility. Worth the long drive from the Central Valley!
Such a great place to learn different crafts and techniques. I’ve taken weekend classes there for jewelry making and welding. Taking right now a once a week class for stone carving.
The Crucible is located in Oakland is a great hands on experience. There is a wide range of materials that The Crucible works with, so there is something for everyone. I went here for a chemistry field trip and to recognize the ways that chemistry works in real life. The thing that I liked most about going to The Crucible was I was able to get up close to all of the different stations. I was able to see the tiniest details from the ark wielding to neon signs. Our chemistry teacher took us here so that it could give us a context to what we are learning in the classroom. To know that the things that we are learning can be applied to today and to know that this information is not worthless. I saw chemistry with the welding of two metal plates and using heat. How different types of gasses when an electric current is run through make colors. The state changes of glass during the glassblowing. The jewelry section and how different gemstones are made over thousands of years. How clay is very malleable until it is put under intense heat. I would recommend The Crucible for anyone who is amazed about how everyday objects and art are made. School groups in high school I would definitely recommend because students can take their education for granted. When you give them a context to what they are learning about, they become more engaged with the material. I think The Crucible is a very cool place and I would not recommend to anyone. Everyone should go to this amazing experience.
I did the blacksmithing class and I give it two stars for the experience and fun I had. But that being said, the only reason I would never go back was the abysmal human interaction. Not including the assistant though he was nice. If your going to teach a class try not to sound board, unimpressed, and disappointed when instructing people. Also I grabbed a hammer right in front of me for the size and weight, and he walked over grabbed it from my hands and told me to “never touch his hammer”. To top it all off it was my birthday.
The Crucible is a fun interactive place where you can go to learn about industrial arts. I went there on a high school chemistry field trip. The thing I liked the best about the Crucible was the staff and the activities. The staff is very nice and explains the chemistry very well. The activities are fun, but informative. In the Crucible we saw welding, neon pipe making, soldering, glass welding and clay making. I would recommend the Crucible for anyone who likes chemistry or science in general. I would not recommend the Crucible to anyone who is afraid of fire or does not like science.
Going to the crucible was a greatly an informative experience and I encourage people to visit. The Crucible is a massive industrial art center in Oakland, where they teach and demonstrate crafts such as arc welding and neon lights. We went on a field trip here to learn more about how using chemistry in amazingly cool ways. My favorite one was probably the arc welding. Arc welding is the combining of two separate metals into one sheet by melting some filler metal in between two sheets of metals (a change of form for the filler metal). There is also a chemical reaction, as slag is being created because of the heat. They also had the neon lights, where they ignited neon with other substances to create different colors. Another chemical reaction was putting a heated copper into an acid to allow it to bend. One of the best examples of chemistry, was how they used oxygen to accelerate/ increase the power of the flame (a redox reaction. I would recommend the crucible for schools and groups on the older sign, so they may experience some of the cooler exhibits such as arc welding. I feel that older kids would get much more out of the experience than if they were still in elementary school.
The crucible is a fun and interactive (sort of) place where anyone could go learn about industrial art. My class and I recently went there on a chemistry field trip, and it was so much fun! My favorite thing that I saw was the glass welding, but there is something for everyone at the Crucible! In the Crucible we saw welding, neon pipe making, soldering, glass welding, and clay making. Although these may not seem like Chemistry is present, it actually is, in many ways! I would definitely recommend the Crucible to young adults who are looking for inspiration in art. However, I would also recommend young kids to take classes at the Crucible, as to learn about art in many forms, and to have fun!
What a treasure in the heart of Oakland.
The Crucible is an industrial arts school filled with various activities and displays related to art and science. I went there on a field trip for our chemistry class and it was a very enjoyable experience. My favorite demonstration was the glass blowing and seeing the production of a glass cup. I saw chemistry being shown in arc welding, blacksmithing, glass blowing, neon lights, and metal cutting. I would recommend visiting The Crucible to anyone who has a love for science, or enjoys seeing live demonstrations. They also offer classes if you would prefer to get your hands dirty!
The crucible is an awesome place to have a school field trip. The faculty and staff were really nice, and all the labs they had there were great examples of chemistry. I watched people cutting and molding metal, to copper polishing with sodium bisulfate. I saw a flame torch that was started with acetylene and oxygen and created combustion and CO2. Another really cool thing I saw was arc welding. When the electrode came into contact with the metal that you wanted to weld, the shielding covered the new weld to protect it from outside elements. The Neon sign area was also really cool. We saw that if you mixed fluorine, mercury, and an electric charge it shows a beautiful bright blue color. Another cool thing about the neon lab was we saw if you mixed different noble gasses it makes different colors.
The Crucible is a warehouse in Oakland that offers great hands-on experience for metal and glass works. The sophomore class of Stuart Hall took a trip here to experience the works of chemistry and fire. I really enjoyed the arc welding display that was there. I saw chemistry in the arc welding, when the elements reacted together. The chemical reaction of melting was evident in the display containing the blue hot flames. The welding and melting together was reacting between elements. The neon, including the other noble gases, showed their colors in the neon signs. The rotting bicycle was evidence of a chemical reaction, oxidation. I would recommend the Crucible to friends and family alike.
The Crucible is a beautiful workshop where you can learn, craft, and make various things. Inside are hundreds of types of tools to help accomplish such desires, such as plasma cutters, torches, welders, and crucibles. The people there were extremely welcoming, and was very thorough and kind when explaining the various things they did there. My favorite station was the glass blowing station, where the people working on the glass almost felt like magicians, spinning the glass with fast and steady movements.But of course the reason why I’m writing this review is because I was sent to the Crucible my school, so I have to say what I learned there and how it relates to chemistry! Well, now here’s all of it. Engineering is the appliance of science, and therefore going to the Crucible is just looking at chemistry being put into action. In neon sculpture making, electricity is used to excite the molecules of the gas being used and create light. This is the inherent property in matter, described in chemistry and physics, of electron levels. In metal welding, there’s electric welding, which uses large amounts of electricity to melt metal together, and torches, which use oxyacetylene gas and oxygen to create heat for a similar purpose. In leather working, we learned that lye is used to cure pure dried skin into a softer and more malleable material. I would love to recommend the crucible to anyone that loves to create art or learn skills to do engineering. It is a great place to learn skills for art, but as I looked further it was starting to look less like a place for learning skills for engineering.
Recently went to The Crucible for an 8 hour workshop in Industrial Arts. My team learned to blacksmith, weld, plasma cut metal, cast aluminum, etc. The center itself is a huge warehouse full of the tools and equipment to learn about building with metal and glass. The instructors were very approachable, informative, and knowledgeable. The course itself was very flexible- they allowed us to learn at our own pace, and to swap for similar classes for our level. All in all we had a fun and safe time learning together. Highly recommended for responsible children and adults. FYI, the location is in a sketchy part of town, but if you arrive early just park right in front of the warehouse and you should be fine.
Fortnite
The Crucible is a great place where you can learn and interact with industrial art. I went to here for a chemistry class field trip. The best part about the trip was learning that there are many different jobs and activities evolved around industrial art. The reason why I went to The Crucible because I had to find the chemistry behind industrial art. Somethings that i saw chemistry in action were glass making, ceramics, blacksmithing, neon and light, and stone working. I really recommend kids of all ages and kids that take a physics class. I wouldnt recommend The Crucible to anyone who isnt interested in learning about new things.
Excellent facilities and curriculum for anyone who wants to learn such skills as blacksmithing, metalworking, jewelry making, welding, and other such making skills.The classes are a bit expensive, but the administration and cost of these facilities make this understandable.The Crucible has created its own community and identity here, and if fire working is of interest to you, you should really check it out.
The Crucible is one of the gems of West Oakland. It is a giant warehouse with a variety of different workshops, situated conveniently across from Bart. My chemistry class just went there for a field trip, on a tour, but I have done some of the camps that they offer for youth before. I saw chemistry everywhere! They had oxy-acetylene cutters, which produced a flame that could cut through metal. In the neon studio, I learned that glass could be bent easily because of its melting point. Furthermore, the color of the light emitted would be determined by the type of gas, because each gas react differently with electricity. In the back of the warehouse, oxidizing bicycles were displayed on the wall. I saw arc welding, which showed the reaction of electrode, which would melt, and a metal, to reform a solid. I highly recommend The Crucible for anyone who is interested in hands on activities, or for anyone who is interested in learning useful skills (such as welding and wood working). Tours are also a great way to see all of the studios, and experience it first hand, without necessarily putting in the time and the work for a class. 6/5!
I attended a team building session and had lots of fun with the blacksmithing course. The instructor was very informative and helpful. It was pretty satisfying hammering the crap out of a red hot steel bar and turning it into a usable object :p
Great place to take classes that arent offered normally. They have kids camps too. My son had a blast being hands on in intro to blacksmithing. They gave great events & performances too!
Blacksmithing class is awesome. The 2 day bike workshop is awesome. The people are awesome. I cant recommend this place highly enough.
The Crucible is an art school in Oakland with different classes that include blacksmithing, bike making/repairing, neon sign making, glass making, welding, wood-working, and much more. Our Chemistry class had the opportunity to see a brief sample of some of the classes/workshops that we could take there. The part that I liked best about going there was seeing all of the cool chemistry that was involved in some of the stations, such as the glass blowing station when the liquid form transformed into the glass form, the oxy-acetylene station where they cut the metal into shapes with the heat, the welding station where they combined pieces of metal, the neon sign making station where they use gasses and high voltage reactions to lite them, and the bike station where rust was occurring which is a chemical change. I would recommend going to the Crucible for anyone who is interested in science and likes to see how it is used in the real world. Other science classes would also get a lot out of it, especially physics. For anyone who is not interested in how sciences are being used in the real world, I would not recommend going to the Crucible.
Fantastic people teaching wonderful crafts. Unique experience. Highly recommended.
The Crucible was a great experience, I saw things from metal cutting with acetylene to copper polishing with sodium bisulfate. When I toured the facility I saw all manner of fire related arts and got a brief presentation of every station that I visited. A few of the best experiences I had are here. I watched someone cut through steel with an oxygen-acetylene. They turned it on first with acetylene, and then with oxygen, this created an extremely hot and jet like flame that cut through quarter inch steel with ease releasing water and co2 in a gaseous form. Another interesting experience was in blacksmithing. After the metal was heated, a coating of oxidation formed that had to be brushed away, the blacksmith called this “scale”. The only way to prevent scale from forming permanently was to dip the red hot metal in oil, this formed a protective coating. Three other things that I saw were pieces of copper being cleaned in acetic acid, silicon based glass being formed and molded, and crucible steel being made. Overall the crucible was a very fun and informative learning experience.
The crucible is not only a school, but an engaging environment, that provides internships, and programs to learn how to do something that they provide there. I went to the crucible for a Chemistry field trip. Of everything there, I probably liked the glass blowing the most, I found it extremely interesting how it worked, and the process it takes to glass blow. We went there to see how chemistry is applied in different environment and how it is applied in the arts. I saw chemistry in action, during glass blowing when he would shape it, in glass cutting when she would melt the glass to make different objects, blacksmithing when he heated up the metal to make it more malleable, in neon where the light is running through the glass tubes, and in bike shop when there were bike parts that were welded together to make a more interesting bike. I highly recommend the Crucible, it is a great place to go not only for an educational experience, but for a cool experience. I would recommend this to anyone that it is at all interested in any kind of science or art.The Crucible is not for anyone that is bothered by loud noises, or does not like fire.
The crucible is a warehouse full of artistic and science related demonstrations. Some include: Glass blowing, blacksmithing and torch cutting. We went to the crucible for a field trip during our chemistry class. I enjoyed seeing live demonstrations regarding what we learn about every day. That was the main reason we went there.. Five instances where I saw chemistry in action were: Bicycles that were rusty, combustion, torch cutting, blacksmithing and glass blowing. I would recommend the crucible to those interested in science and in art, both as a class trip and an individual trip.
What an awesome place! Excellent instructors, equipment and wow, the classes are deep/rich with info and process ... but best of all: hands-on learning!!
The crucible is basically arts and crafts on steroids. I went to the crucible for a chemistry field trip. My favorite thing from the crucible was when someone who glass blows made a glass cup. Our chemistry teacher, Mr. Halkyard took the class to the crucible because he wanted us to experience chemistry hands on and in person. I saw chemistry in the neon signs, when metals were heated up and bended, the making of glass beads by melting them down, welding, and heating up glass to form it into a cup. I highly recommend the crucible for anyone, except for babies because they would not understand anything and it would be dangerous.
This place looks super fun! If you want to learn some badass skills like blacksmithing or fire dancing, this seems the place to do it.
Brilliant place to go. I would spend 3-4 months to learn how to work with all the devices.
The crucible is a collaborative art center the focuses on using unique techniques (blacksmithing, welding, etc.). I was taken on a field trip there for my chemistry class and I thought it was very interesting. My favorite part had to be the blacksmithing section, everything the artist made there looked very nice. Our teacher took us there to teach us about the effects of chemistry in the real world, and how it can be used. We saw chemistry in shaping medal with blacksmithing, cutting metal in arc welding, engraving metal regular welding, creating textures on metal in the jewelry section, and shaping glass in glass blowing. I highly recommend The Crucible for other sciences classes as well as individuals interested in the art forms they offer.
The Crucible is a place we went for chemistry where we got to see what people do in their everyday lives there. It differed from things like glass blowing to crafting objects with clay. The Crucible is located in Oakland and is about a twenty-five minute ride away from Stuart Hall High School in San Francisco. We went to The Crucible for a chemistry field trip and the main point for going was so that we could see all the different ways that chemistry was used in this place. Honestly, my favorite part of The Crucible I would have to say was seeing how all these things that we use in everyday life are created. For example in the glass blowing area, it was very interesting to see the entire process of making a glass that anyone drinks out of everyday. I believe that we were taken here so that we could get an understanding of how all the things we use in everyday are used in life and how chemistry is used to help make them. The first time I saw chemistry used here was when we saw glass cutting. We saw how Oxygen and Acetylene were used to cut into objects. Next we saw how neon was used for cutting and then fire was used to ben glass. After that I went on to see a new section. Here I learned that when compounds are added to gas, they are more able to withstand heat. Next we went to a section that used natural gasses. Here I realized that when natural gasses burn they are hotter than natural gasses alone. And the last place I saw chemistry was at glass blowing. Here I saw that chemistry was seen when glass and air was used to make bubbles in glass. I would recommend The Crucible for honestly a large variety of people. Anywhere from little kids to adults because not only was it informing for me but it was a fun experience. Overall, The Crucible is a very intriguing yet fun place, and all should go at one time in their life times.
I had a chance to do the taste of industrial program here a little while ago and loved it. It was like day-camp for grown ups, with three different activity sessions (aluminum smelting, TIG welding, and blacksmithing), plus pizza for lunch. I wasnt so hot at the welding, but still ended up with a nice candle box, plus a sand-casted aluminum paperweight and a bracelet. I will definitely be back for more of the blacksmithing.
A fantastic wonderland where every sort of creativity can be expressed and new skills joyfully acquired.
The crucible is an nonprofit organization dedicated to igniting students thinking. My chemistry class went there for a field trip, and we learned a lot about chemistry, as well as the other work stations that they had there. My favorite was probably either blacksmithing, or glass blowing. They both made very common materials, such as glasses and metal wall hooks from simple materials, such as a chunk of glass and and piece of metal.. My chemistry teacher took us there to learn about chemistry, which I think we did. I saw chemistry in the glass blowing station, and the blacksmithing station. Another good example of chemistry was when they ran neon through glass tubes, which caused it to light up. Also the melting of the metals and glass through out the crucible were examples of physical changes. I recommend the crucible to anyone who wants to learn more about chemistry, or to anyone who wants to learn some very useful skills, such as glass blowing and blacksmithing. It was fun to go as a class, but I think that in a smaller group with more time, we could have learned a lot more. I think that the crucible may not be as interesting to young children, since they may not understand how everything was happening, but it would probably still be cool for them to watch. I also dont recommend it to people who dont like loud noises, or who only like neat and simple things, because the crucible actually deals with how things are made and how they work.
Amazing space to get your creativity flowing!
The Crucible is an art school in Oakland, CA. It is in a big warehouse full of different types of non-traditional art. Anybody can take classes and the people teaching the demonstrations were people who do their art there. Once you have been certified and taught, the Crucible is there for you to use their equipment and develop your art. We went there for a Chemistry field trip for our school. I thought that it was cool that there was just a huge warehouse filled with artists and tools. My favorite art demonstration was glassblowing or glass-working. When the glass was blown, it looked like a balloon! The glass working was cool because she used a straight rod of colored glass to create a mini glass bear. Our teacher took us there to see the chemical reactions and changes of state taking place. There is a lot of Chemistry there and it was a very interesting place to visit. It was a fascinating way to see Chemistry used in daily life. I saw Chemistry in action in five different places. The first place was at the foundry. They had a chemical formula above the furnace. It was the formula for metalloid, which was what they were burning in the sand molds. The second time was in the neon shop. The artist talked about how he creates the tubes to contain the neon. He said that the neon changes color when a new element is added to it. This is one of the signs of a chemical reaction: color change. The third time was a the metal-cutting shop. The artist was using a blow torch with gas and the color was orange. Then, he added oxygen and it changed to blue. This is an example of combustion. The fourth time I saw chemistry was also at the metal-cutting shop. When the artist reduced the amount of oxygen in the flame, it became much smaller and less hot. This is an example of a Redox reaction. The last place I saw chemistry was in glass blowing. It was a clear state change between molten (liquid) glass and solid glass. Glass is also made from very condensed sand. I would definitely recommend the Crucible to people who like art. I will be going back to see more demonstrations and take some classes. I would recommend it to artists, people interested in chemistry, mostly high-schoolers. For young kids, it would be very cool, but they wouldnt understand the chemistry behind it. I wouldnt recommend the crucible to anyone with pyrophobia. There are flying sparks, huge furnaced, and massive flames throughout the warehouse.
Every town needs a school like this.Come check it out when there is an open house.
Access to molten glass, classes in blacksmithing, learn how to make jewelry. Excellent facilities, staff.
Fantastic.Schedule to take a class. Any class.
It was great.
I havent even gone there yet but Ill probably live here
Great spot for woodworking, etc.
I went there a few months ago and it was just awesome!