San Diego Craft Collective

Using STEAM and inspired by the Sloyd method, children age 6+ get acquainted with woodworking tools, techniques, and building skills to learn about wood as a material and how to make objects. We teach hand tool methods for ages 6 - 12 years. We incorporate integrative learning skills (math, science, and art) in our approach to teaching and the children build upon their skills each week. Students are guided through a series of steps that teach and exercise dexterity and hand-eye coordination, creative problem solving, craftsmanship, and the mechanics of tools and hardware. Students learn about wood, grain direction, measuring, marking, and cutting, proper & safe use of tools. Courses have new projects each month, and children make their own unique projects and toys to take home. Scholarships are available for low income families.

Taught by women for women or non-binary, non-gender conforming humans. This inclusive workshop setting empowers people in the woodshop, a typically male-dominated arena. We cover machine safety, the properties of wood, and several techniques on various power tools while making a beautiful, functional object that students take home at the end of the class. Scholarships are available for low-income people.

Craft2Gether is an outreach program created to deliver quality Craft Kits for children. We design, prepare, and sell Craft Kits to the public & for each kit sold, we donate one to a child in need. We donate Craft Kits to children in Title 1 schools, homeless children, and refugees.
Our goal is multifaceted:
+ Provide under-resourced children with quality craft projects & free arts education by professional-level craft artists
+ Give children & families a creative outlet despite not being able to afford private arts and craft classes
+ Provide meaningful craft projects that build hand skills using quality materials & professionally-designed projects that are age appropriate & fun
+ Support craftspeople & artisans who get paid for project design, kit preparation & teaching
+ Build partnerships with organizations who help serve this demographic & build each other up by providing quality craft projects and education that also help them reach their goals and serve their mission

Our Ceramics Program was launched in the summer of 2020. Despite covid, we continued to grow and serve the community by giving them an outlet to create meaningful objects with their hands. We currently teach Ceramics for Kids 6 -12yrs, Ceramics for Teens, Intro to Handbuilding Clay, Intro to Wheel Throwing, and also host various workshops for families to make ceramics together that includes all ages. We have an Open Studio program that is non-instructional, where students and community members with prior clay experience can come into our studio and make clay projects using our tools, clay, glazes, and kilns.
We offer scholarships in all of our classes and workshops.

Our textiles program has grown significantly since starting in 2019. We offer workshops and courses in sewing, weaving, natural dye methods, macrame, quilting, and other fiber arts. Most of our workshops and classes are open to teens and adults, and many classes offer options for a parent to attend with a child so they may learn together. We offer scholarships in all of the textile workshops and courses.

With workshops in fused glass, mosaics, and stained glass, we offer many options for people to learn how to explore their creative side in glass. Whether crafting with their families, friends, or on their own, we offer people a variety of price points and skill sets. Our instructors are professional-level craftspeople who have a large knowledge base in the specific craft they are teaching. Fused glass projects vary from sun catchers to nightlights to dishes and bowls that are slumped in a kiln using molds. We offer scholarships in all of these workshops for low income people.

The Garden Program offers workshops and courses for both adults and children. Many workshop opportunities teach people how to grow their own food in a multi-age environment. We offer a Gardening Club for Adults that is free for military families, and a Garden Club for Kids that provides scholarships for low income families. Taught by master gardeners, master composters, and professional gardeners and farmers, our programming is full of information for how to grow food, how to compost, when to harvest, how to can and preserve harvested crops, and many more fun garden projects that incorporate skills from our other programs such as glass and woodworking.