VOA标准英语2008年-Michael Sturtz Fosters Collaboration of Arts, I

Michael Sturtz says discovering art helped him through what he recalls as his unruly, rebellious¹, semi-suicidal teenage years.
　
Michael Sturtz created this sculpture, "Solidarity," in 1990

"I found making art to be so rewarding and so grounding and so reassuring² of who I am and who I could be," he recalls, "that when I see people that don't have that in themselves, I just feel like – if they could just have that experience of getting what's inside of them out a little bit more, they would have the [assurance] and the confidence and the gusto to go for their dreams."

After getting his Bachelor's degree and traveling the world to study art, the young sculptor³ returned home to Oakland, California in 1998, only to find it lacking a cultural arts scene. So he decided⁴ to start one.

A mission to foster creativity

He hosted potluck meals, bringing together artists who were working in the same medium but didn't know each other. The gatherings⁵ grew and soon Sturtz purchased an empty warehouse⁶ to house the project he called The Crucible⁷.

Artists were able to rent affordable⁸ studio space there, and some of them were paid to teach their form of art to the community.
　
In after-school classes, teens can create with molten glass, hot metal and fire

In its first year, 300 students took classes in crafts like welding, glass-making and blacksmithing. Now in its 10th year, the industrial arts center offers 750 courses, expanding from the "fire arts" to include jewelry⁹, textiles and woodworking. Five thousand students, ranging in age from 8 to 80 take classes at The Crucible each year. Half the young people are on scholarship.
　
Michael Sturtz welcomes the crowd to this year's Fire Arts Festival

Sturtz says The Crucible's mission is to encourage a greater appreciation¹⁰ of the industrial arts, provide learning opportunities for the general public, and foster creativity. Anyone and everyone can be creative, Sturtz insists, even if it's in their garage or in their kitchen. "[They could be] gluing things together, nailing things together, making something that speaks of who they are and their relationship to the world."

Sturtz describes going from being an artist to a teacher as an amazing feeling. They both try to have an impact on the world, he notes, "but as an institution that's teaching so many people and making art accessible to so many people year after year, you just see the ripple¹¹ effects [of teaching]."

Creating with fire and light
　
Among the sculptures lighting¹² up the night at the Fire Arts Festival was a flaming cactus¹³

The Crucible holds an annual four-day Fire Festival fundraiser. This year, a city parking lot was turned into an outdoor art gallery of odd-shaped metal sculptures that shot tongues of flame high into the night sky. "Fire is a very powerful element," Sturtz says. "People are fearful of it, but they're drawn¹⁴ to it."

With fire-related classes the most popular at The Crucible, Sturtz says it was only natural to have a fund-raiser that celebrates creation through fire and light. "This is where you are taking that creative spark, using fire to transform materials and, ultimately, it transforms people. It empowers them and inspires them."
　
Mike Brown has learned blacksmithing, glass flameworking and metal casting at the Crucible

One student who has been empowered by fire used safely is Mike Brown, 16. He has taken almost all of the courses offered through The Crucible's youth program and now belongs to a welding cooperative, making projects for local businesses.

Brown says that what he has learned at the Crucible has changed him; it's given him the confidence to voice his opinion and speak up to people. And he adds that Michael Sturtz taught him one of life's important lessons: never to give up, for anything is possible.

A 21st century apprenticeship¹⁵
　
Blacksmithing classes — including a special workshop for women — teach the fundamental skills needed to forge steel

At least one phone call comes in each week requesting information on how to start a program like this. Recently, Sturtz sent a team to Wellington, New Zealand, to help an art studio there break into the fire arts.

Sturtz compares The Crucible to the guilds¹⁶ and apprenticeships of the late Middle Ages; it's just a newer approach. "Art schools are very conceptual and very expensive. Not everybody wants to do that," he observes. "People just want that hands-on experience. They want the community."

With The Crucible more successful than he could ever have imagined, Michael Sturtz says he's pleased that other communities are as fired up as he is about the power of art to change lives.

1 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

2 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

3 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

6 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

7 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

10 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

11 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

12 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

13 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

16 guilds   

行会，同业公会，协会( guild的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• View list of the guilds that Small has war on. 看目前有哪些公会是我们公会开战的对象及对我们开战的对象。
• Guilds and kingdoms fit more with the Middle Age fantasy genre. （裴）:公会和王国更适合中世纪奇幻类型。