Model and Strategy
The Crucible’s Pre-professional Creative Immersion program provides motivated student artists, aged 18-24, with access to mentors, training, and experience in collaborative art making. Guided by a diverse team of artists, the program develops technical skills, explores career paths, and culminates in a public art project.
The program promotes empathy though mentorship, relationships, and the collaborative process that drives public art. Discovery is at the heart of this project as emerging artists tap into their personal passions, dive deeply into areas of expertise, and explore career paths through a kaleidoscope of viewpoints.
While the young program participants and the professional artists have a common interest in large-scale sculpture and metalworking, they come from different backgrounds, with the majority of participants being African American youth who grew up in at risk situations. By focusing on this population, we promote diversity in the project and in the field.
Impact
This project is designed with longterm impacts in mind. Preprofessional Creative Immersion program participants will learn about themselves as artists, develop relationships with mentors, and explore continuing education and career options with a goal of determining how, in the longer term, they personally fit into the artistic landscape. These students will be presented with opportunities that may change the entire trajectory of their lives, and which would not have been available without this program.
This project is also designed to continue beyond the twoyear period outlined in this proposal. With a new cohort of participants selected annually, the program will serve more young people, engage more professional artists and mentors and build a stronger, broader, and more diverse arts ecosystem in West Oakland and beyond.
It is also anticipated that this project will have a direct impact on future of The Crucible’s artistic staff, with the expectation that some program participants will become Crucible faculty members. In this way, the project has an even greater impact on the next generation of even younger students who will benefit from this additional layer of mentorship.
Leadership
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Carla Hall
Director of Education