Industrial arts school The Crucible abruptly closes its doors, leaves staff, students in the dark

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland institution The Crucible, an industrial arts school that offers welding, blacksmithing and glassblowing classes, has temporarily closed its doors and canceled all classes and events. Artists, staff, faculty and students were not informed prior to the closure, leaving them uncertain about the road ahead.

The school’s Board of Directors "abruptly announced" the temporary closure of the 56,000-square-foot facility on 7th Street late Saturday night, citing "serious financial circumstances," a release from the staff union The Dedicated Cru states.

Staff perspectives

What they're saying:

The email from the board of directors was succinct:

"Beginning Sunday, October 25th, The Crucible is temporarily closed, all classes and events are canceled until further notice," the notice states.

Olivia Hara, The Crucible’s development manager, started with the organization two years ago as a volunteer. She said there have been financial difficulties since before she joined the community, but the way the board has handled the situation is baffling.

""How could you know we were headed in this direction for so long and not have a plan in place? There’s been no communication. It’s very confusing to me how we ended up here. I feel like if they were trying to preserve The Crucible there would have been changes a while ago," Hara said. "There’s been multiple chances for (the board) to set it up to be successful, but it’s been continually dysfunctional, and that kind of leadership trickles down. They’ve been in ‘putting out fires’ mode for so long they don’t know how to build."

Samantha Espinoza, who manages youth programs for The Crucible, said that being unable to contact students who paid for classes makes the closure especially hard.

"It's something that we all feel really upset about, that this is the message being sent to our student community," Espinoza said. "They deserve more. They’re makers and artists, but they’re also paying customers, and we at the union feel very strongly about how (the messaging) makes The Crucible look to the community."

In addition to leaving paying customers in the dark about their classes, the closure also means that no one, including people renting The Crucible's studio spaces, is able to retrieve personal belongings they left at the West Oakland facility.

Espinoza said a board member had offered to help people get their things out of the building, but there has been no official announcement about when or how to make that happen.

The Crucible’s board of directors had not responded to KTVU’s request for comment as of this writing.

Union meeting

What's next:

The Dedicated Cru organized a meeting on Sunday, partly to commiserate, Espinoza said, but mostly to discuss how to ensure the union has a seat at the table in planning the Crucible’s future.

Faculty and staff formed earlier this year as part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 57 "in response to ongoing issues with management," a press release from the union states.

"The union staff has repeatedly offered concrete solutions for a roadmap to financial security — including staffing reductions at all levels of the organization, reductions in reliance on external contractors, and improved efficiencies within the physical warehouse," the release states. "All suggestions by the union staff have to date been ignored, or rebuffed by management and the Board.

"Instead, management has pressed for reductions in community engagement, services, and classes — offering no hourly or salary reductions to non-union, non-public-facing staff."

Costs and classes

By the numbers:

The Crucible's 2025 annual report states the organization had endured serious financial challenges in the previous two years, but that delayed federal tax-credit funds had finally come through, that leadership was working to rebuild fundraising operations, had filled senior staff vacancies, and had recognized the employee union.

The report listed $4.07 million in revenue and $3.85 million in expenses for that year.

It also stated that The Crucible had raised over $1 million in January of this year, after meeting a $500,000 matching challenge from the Kelson Foundation.

The Oaklandside reported that in 2024 the organization had laid off employees, reduced hours, and canceled its annual fundraiser due to a financial shortfall. That investigation reported that The Crucible had seen leadership turnover and discord about how the financial troubles began. There were also reports of employees, current and former, raising concerns about staffing and safety.

The 2025 report stated there were 3,306 students enrolled in 623 classes in ceramics and glass. There were 527 youths enrolled in summer camp classes, 76 scholarships awarded, as well as 888 students who participated in field trips that year.

Ongoing woes

Dig deeper:

This is not the first time that financial woes have caused the Crucible to close its doors, but Hara said she wonders how this incident will read to donors.

"If you’ve been donating for years to save the crucible — that’s always the narrative — you’d get tired. It’s like, ‘how many more years do we have to keep saving the organization?’" Hara said. "I think our executive director has the skills to get money, and while that’s good temporarily, in the long run we need someone who understands The Crucible, or the arts, or how arts nonprofit collectives work. Someone who can help build our community and develop our programs, and we haven’t had that focus."

She said she hopes the closure acts as a wake-up call and prompts an organizational restructuring that will set The Crucible up for long-term success.

Struggling arts scene

Local perspective:

Espinoza lamented that Oakland may be on the verge of losing another arts organization, following the shuttering of California College of the Arts in 2022 and Clay By The Bay earlier this year.

"The Crucible is a one-of-a-kind organization that doesn’t exist anywhere else. For us to have something like this in West Oakland, it should really be cherished and treated as an important part of the arts and crafts world," Espinoza said. "To think about this space possibly leaving and being closed because of mismanagement is disheartening. Our organization has provided so many opportunities for different artists and makers over the years. For us to leave, especially in this time when arts organizations are closing everywhere, is really sad."

While The Crucible has been shuttered in the past, Espinoza said she and The Dedicated Cru are hopeful that this time, the union can find a way for the organization to reopen and stay open.

"My hope is that now we’re a union with some kind of power, we can get The Crucible going on a track that’s more in line with what it needs to be sustainable for our community, with better management," Espinoza said. "Our staff and faculty have been through a lot. This is a difficult time for us, but I think we feel confident in our ability to get it together, because we always do."

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