By Paula Lehman/WEST OAKLAND As a kid, Matt Baran had trouble defining what was “right.” He struggled between what was considered the norm, the constantly shifting opinions of his community, and wanting to do the “right thing.”medicine alprazolam Xanax Online Without Perscription canadian xanax tafil 1.0mg
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By Paula Lehman/WEST OAKLAND

Michael Sturtz, founder of the Crucible in West Oakland

The brick warehouse on the corner of 7th and Union radiates heat, beckoning the curious to enter the shop on a chilly December afternoon. You walk through the doors into a small office, but that gives you a misleading first impression. Founder Michael Sturtz, a relaxed character adorned in all black, opens the next door to reveal a 56,000 square feet maze of industrial art studios. The hum of a furnace echoes through the halls. The bang of a hammer on metal booms from the blacksmith’s studio. A creative energy fills up the massive space.

The Crucible teaches people how to weld, how to work with metal and how to work with fire. It started in 1999 when Sturtz opened up shop in West Berkeley. After years of dissatisfaction with traditional arts training, Sturtz was looking for a way to counteract the competitive, non-collaborative environment he experienced at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“School was frustrating and I felt I could do a better job,” Sturtz said. “I wanted a more hands-on and community-based experienced.”

Six months after leaving Chicago, Sturtz set up shop in West Berkeley. With a $1,750 grant and $20,000 of personal investment he rented a 6,000 square foot shop that became the Crucible.

Wood working is gaining traction amongst artists who come into the Crucible

The Crucible has exploded in popularity. It went from renting the small shop in West Berkeley to owning the 56,000 square feet in West Oakland.  The Crucible’s budget skyrocketed from $50,000 to over $3 million, due to its programmatic growth. Sturtz attributes this to widespread viral exposure.

“There’s a creative buzz or vibe that is contagious, so word of mouth really helped our growth,” he said.

The Crucible also holds special events now and then to do a little bit of showing off In the first week of January, the shop will put on its 10th annual fire ballet fundraising event, where various artists—from aerialists to dancers to designers—put on an elaborate performance of fire and dance. Past performances include Romeo and Juliet and Stravinsky’s Fire Bird. This year’s performance is Dracul Prince of Fire, the legend of Dracula’s father.

The props for the show are all made in-house, and some are even made on stage during the production. Actors pour molten glass and metal into molds as sparks and neon yellows shock audiences.

Students use torches to weld and create everything from sculptures to bicycles.

But the Crucible remains primarily an educational institution. Sturtz and his crew run approximately 180 classes a session, which are attended by 5,000 adults every year and anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 kids. Welding, glass and jewelry making have always been popular, but more recently the woodworking and new kinetics classes, such as a robotics class for kids, are hot these days.

The word “crucible,” a vessel used for melting metal and glass at high temperatures, also connotes a trial or test of belief and a place where concentrated forces come together to cause change and development.  The shop, Sturtz says, embodies all these meanings of the word.

For more information on the Crucible and special upcoming events visit TheCrucible.org.

by Dara Kerr/WEST OAKLAND

Between empty lots and old warehouses, a side-yard off San Pablo and 32nd Street looked like a small haven in the West Oakland neighborhood that locals call ‘Dogtown.’ Artspace ABCO held a first-time ‘craft meet’ on Sunday where artisans from the area sold their hand-made wares and over a hundred people came to hang out and shop.

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By Angela J. Bass/WEST OAKLAND

All campaigns come to a close with one last long day of work, when volunteers and staffers concentrate their efforts on getting out the vote.
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By Nick Burns/BERKELEY

Proponents and opponents of Proposition 8 took their get-out-the-vote efforts to the streets — or freeway — today. A dozen volunteers set up camp on a pedestrian overpass near University Avenue in West Berkeley, hanging banners and waving signs as commuters drove along highway 80, a major traffic corridor connecting Sacramento and San Francisco.

Beginning as early as 6:30 in the morning, signs for and against the controversial proposition appeared  across the north and southbound sides of the overpass. But by early afternoon, supporters of an amendment to California’s constitution that would ban gay marriage left the scene, leaving a hopeful group of opponents unhindered by competing efforts.

If passed, Proposition 8 would overturn a recent California Supreme Court decision that gay marriage is a constitutional right, and nullify the thousands of legal gay marriages performed in the last few months.

Here, East Bay West Online caught up with one emotional opponent who spent his lunch hour encouraging commuters to vote no on Prop. 8.

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By Dara Kerr/WEST OAKLAND

Residents of West Oakland seemed excited and nervous about the election today. “There is a buzz in the air, a spirit of anticipation,” said Lisa Rayson, precinct inspector at the West Oakland Public Library.

American flags waved in front of churches, fire stations, schools and community centers, indicating that they were polling stations.

Overall, most West Oakland residents seemed to be supporting Senator Barack Obama. In front of a polling station on 32nd and Union streets, a teen walked by and yelled to the people waiting to vote, “Obama or die.”

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by Paula Lehman/WEST OAKLAND

Each presentation during the open forum portion of Tuesday’s Port of Oakland Commissioners meeting was painted with raised “Good Jobs & Clean Air” posters and followed by applause. Commissioners listened to community members demand, plead and sometimes threaten the committee to take action.

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By Clayton Trosclair/WEST OAKLAND

In 2000, the Oakland school district was about to hit rock bottom. Classrooms were so crowded teachers resorted to hallways, most students could not read at grade level and the district was named in a class-action lawsuit for failing to provide such basic necessities  as textbooks and qualified teachers.

Administrators decided part of the problem was megaschools – overgrown, impersonal campuses that enrolled as many as 2,300 students; too many, it was believed, to adequately support or manage in one place. The district responded that year with a restructuring plan: the largest schools would be split in two, and dozens of new campuses would be created from scratch.

The first review of the project, in 2003, reported higher test scores, attendance and graduation rates. Parents were more involved, it said, and students were better-behaved. The city drew national attention and a $15 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Oakland believed it had turned a corner on the problems of the past.

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by Ali Winston/WEST OAKLAND

Faced with a $42 million budget gap, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums on Tuesday proposed a combination of layoffs and cuts to municipal spending and services to balance the city’s books.

Approximately $32 million in savings would come from laying off 84 employees and leaving vacant positions unfilled, from parking meters and citations by transferring general-fund costs to other municipal funds, and by reducing park and street-light maintenance. The final $10 million would come from laying off an additional 120 people, or by shutting down city operations on Fridays.

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By Elise Craig/OAKLAND

The Oakland United Democratic Committee campaign office held its grand opening yesterday with a rally led by state and local politicians. Over 200 people came to the 19^th street storefront see lawmakers cheer on Barack Obama, and to promote state and local races.

“We’re going to take back our own state, and we’re going to take back our own country,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “We have an army of people here in this country who are going to make sure that Senator Obama becomes President Obama.”

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