My personal journey as a blacksmith began in 2007 at The Academy of Art in San Francisco. But my true industrial arts education was forged at the behemoth of an arts school that is The Crucible, Oakland. Founded in 1999 The Crucible has given work to hundreds of artists every year and has over two dozen departments of classes. With the temporary closure of The Crucible, I thought it would be fitting to share other places in the bay that offer industrial arts education. The previous closure in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic saw an exodus of working artists. I believe it is a great loss for the bay area if we were to loose more talent and had fewer unique experiences.
Read below to about other places where you can learn and support the arts.
Blacksmithing Classes
Clay And Steel - Richmond, CA
Maybe you stumbled across this page through a Google search (somehow bypassing the AI-generated answers). Maybe someone shared this blog with you. Either way, I have to start with an obvious recommendation: my own shop, Clay and Steel.
Located inside Seaport Art Studios in Richmond, Clay and Steel offers hands-on classes where you can learn to forge hooks, knives, feathers, bracelets, and more. I also bring in special guest instructors throughout the year, and I've got an exciting, star-studded lineup in the works for the near future.
Check out my current class offerings to see our upcoming classes. Sign up soon, they sell out fast!
Visual Philosophy Studio - San Jose
This maker space offers introduction to blacksmithing classes every weekend. They also offer classes in welding, ceramics, screen printing and stained glass. Click here to discover more.
Jewelry
Learn to work with precious metals, set stones or create your own chain and more at Richmond Art Center. In addition to teaching small metal arts Richmond also offers classes in drawing and painting, printmaking, ceramics and more
Metalworks SF is a jewelry school and studio associated with Macchiarini Design, a long-established San Francisco jewelry business. It teaches traditional hand fabrication and metalworking, with classes for beginners and more experienced students.
Woodturning
Enjoy the fast, fun instant satistfaction of wood turning at Lower48 in Oakland, CA. Craft beautiful, functional objects, creating pens and bowls and more all in a lively and inclusive setting.
Print Making
Delve into the intricate art of linocuts and bookbinding through expert guidance at this unique establishment. Book arts are often overlooked as an artform. But books are a perfect medium in which to weave stories on every page and cover.
Kala is a longstanding resource for contemporary printmaking in the bay area. In addition to workshops they offer artist residencies, exhibitions, and professional print studio facilities
Welding
Maker Nexus is a new hands on Maker Space in Sunnyvale that’s like Tech Shop with an independent artist vibe. They have many departments and opportunities to learn, including instruction of welding and other metal working techniques
Visual Philosophy Studio - San Jose
This maker space offers introduction to blacksmithing classes every weekend. They also offer classes in welding, ceramics, screen printing and stained glass. Click here to discover more.
Clay and Steel?
More shameless self promotion for my personal shop. We had offered welding in the past but it is difficult for me to keep up with the equipment and maintenance needed for the shop, while keeping the pricing reasonable for students. However with the high demand to learn welding we are bringing back this basic shop skill in the form of a couple of short, simplified welding courses. We will be rolling out these new courses shortly.
Glassblowing
Located nearby in Richmond, this independently owned shop offers approachably priced classes in glassblowing, with some great deals through Groupon.
Public Glass is a large shop offering classes in various methods for shaping glass, including glass blowing, glass flameworking, glass fusing and slumping and coldworking
Mare Island offers glass working experiences for all sizes and budgets. You can choose a simple taste of glass blowing or decide to do a larger project
Glass Flameworking
Public Glass is a large shop offering classes in various methods for shaping glass, including glass blowing, glass flameworking, glass fusing and slumping and coldworking
