Studio One Art Center

I wanted to fall madly in love with this place, but I’m sad to say that the adult drawing classes here are awful.
I took Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain with Diandre Drake, and it was a disaster.
I was so excited to be drawing again, and was drawing all the time. I went to class excited to show him my work and he refused to look at it. He only wanted to see my homework assignment. OK, maybe not every teacher is going to encourage outside work. Good teachers with passion about their subject and desire to help someone grow probably do, but maybe it’s not a job requirement.
However, when I showed him my homework drawing, he said it was unfinished but couldn’t elaborate. When I asked him to please explain what made it unfinished so that I could learn, he explained that he is self-​taught and basically can’t discuss art. He can only teach you his way, step-​by-​step. Well, I could read a book for that kind of instruction.
I was so disappointed in the class that Studio One gave me a free class. I signed up for Basic Drawing with Jesse Woods. I really liked him as a person — he’s interesting and charming. But as a teacher, he often showed up late (one time over 40 minutes late), once didn’t show up at all, and he seemed more interested in talking than teaching. What he wanted to talk about was always interesting, but we didn’t spend nearly enough time drawing.
When Mr. Woods didn’t show up to class, Studio One gave the entire class a free class. That seems to be their routine. It’s a pity because Studio One Art Center could be such an amazing resource for adults who want to create art, but it just seems like they don’t care.
If you want to learn to draw and can take classes during the day in SF, I highly recommend anything that Virginia Banta teaches at Sharon Art Studio. Sharon Art Studio is also inexpensive and run by the SF Park and Rec (Studio One is run by Oakland Park and Rec). For now, it’s worth making the trek to the City.
Hopefully one day soon, Studio One will be run and taught by people who are passionate about art and about teaching art. What a happy day that will be!

We tried this summer camp for a week long session because the marketing said it was a music and language camp. Not so. Very little music was taught (they spent one day at the local pool.) Our main complaint is that the staff, consisting of young, untrained kids had little to no interaction with the campers in any kind of positive way. They are clearly there as safety guards without any positive influence on the kids. Want a great camp? Go 50 feet away (literally) to Steve and Kate’s. There the counsellors are engaged, they have a REAL curriculum and the campers are energized and happy. Not just throwing utility balls at each other’s heads while the «supervisors» look on disinterested.

This is a review for their children’s summer arts camps. My kids attended for the first time this past summer. I have a very artistic child who is 10 and figured a fine arts camp would focus on interesting and varied media. Not so. The program struck me as more of a child care program rather than really inspiring kids to create art. My kids were bored and there were also a lot of kids in the program that caused problems for the other kids. Some of the teachers were just plain rude to the kids. But, most importantly, my kids did not like it and we won’t be back next summer.
I’m not sure I’d rate the program a 1-​star. I think 3 stars is probably more appropriate for the program itself. But the 1-​star rating is for the administration. At the end of the 4-​week fine arts program, the kids performed for the parents. Studio One hired a professional videographer/​photographer and offered the parents who attended a DVD of the performances for $ 10. I paid my $ 10 and in late October (today), I have still not received my DVD for a performance that happened in July. I have emailed and been told that «it’s on its way». I just called the office and was told that the person who deals with this is out and that I should call back some other time in hopes that I get her. What??? You owe people money or a DVD and you tell them to do the work and call back? I’m not at all hopeful of seeing my $ 10 again or getting a DVD. You’re a business, Studio One. Act like one.

Previously I gave a one star review because it was impossible to find their classes on their website. Since then, they responded to my email and offered to mail me their catalog. It seems they are still working on the new class schedule and will post it soon. Thanks to their prompt reply, they have earned five stars!

Ok, so my daughter is not a fan of kindergarten. The rules and more particularly, her teacher, who is on the stern side. We signed her up for art camp for the three days before Thanksgiving so she could go have fun. And people, SO MUCH FUN WAS HAD. She came home in the BEST mood and SO happy. We figured she’d be drawing and painting, but nope, she did that plus yoga, drama, and playing games outside. This place is INCREDIBLE. We’ll be going back very soon!

Wonderful to see them return to their newly remodeled location. Staff has always welcomed our children. Our two teenage children have enjoyed their class for close to 5 years.
One can select from a wide range of classes and levels of experience. I was surprised to see the center hosting a wide variety of events for the neighborhood: from after school activities, Friday outdoor film nights, kick boxing, etc. Check out their activities — one might find a new hobby or simply rediscover and old one.
We are very grateful to this year’s special offering for student attending Oakland Tech — my «teenage» son thanks you. Free classes have allowed him to relax and simply enjoy being a young kid.

Wonderful instructors and great new facilities – walkable from MacArthur BART.
Beautiful brochure (mailing list) but you have to commit early for the class to fly. You can always pull out.
Great activities for youth.

This place is a local gem. Space is bright and clean and green. Teachers are often career artists and have a lot of experience, yet they’re very relaxed and helpful. I’ve taken several sessions of glass fusing, one beadmaking workshop, and am now trying metal casting for jewelry. Prices for classes are well below most private studios, it’s a great deal (plus discount for Oakland residents).

Studio One is such a great find! I’m currently taking a fabulous weekly ceramics class in this beautiful new building. It’s a very loosely structured class, which I appreciate, led by a knowledgeable and supportive instructor to provide a general lesson, tips and tricks along the way, and answers to burning questions.
It’s not inexpensive but it’s certainly comparable to other ceramics studios. With class enrollment, the first bag of clay is free — mine has lasted 4 weeks now — along with all the glazes, tools, and firings you can make good use of.
I’ve enrolled in classes at other studios before and, after a few weeks, it felt like a bit of a chore. Now, I’m honestly sad that I won’t get to throw any pots on Presidents Day [or MLK, Jr. day, which has already passed], but it’s nice that they do observe those holidays, and I did get a refund for the canceled classes. Fortunately, for $ 15, I can show up on a Saturday for a few hours and use the studio to make up for lost time.

I’ve had my kids enrolled in their weekly summer arts camp and was so impressed with the facility and staff. This is an amazing local resource. The camp rates are so affordable and they have great kids programming. I will send them here again next summer for their fine arts series for sure.

Visited for the first time last night for a poetry slam. Awesome location for poetry. I believe we were in the main room. The white walls and ceiling lighting made for a perfect combination. The artwork throughout the building was also interesting. Nice to see this type of venue/​studio/​business in Oakland.

i took a jewelry making class here and it was awesome. i love this place.

The building is great, the people who work here are great, and my man & I had a great time teaching kids how to make ice cream here.
BUT, the City of Oakland is seriously underfunding Studio One, and almost all their classes for adults seem to be M-​F 9 – 5. AND their schedule is impossible to find online, and when you do it is a horribly broken and ancient interface.

Super fly remodel and an all-​around great idea. Went to a poetry reading here for the first time and discovered that, at 25, I still wet my pants!

my boyfriend and i took our first ceramics class here this summer. it was one of the first classes offered after their grand re-​opening. I didn’t take any classes there when it was practically a dump (apparently, this place used to have a sign that said «enter at your own risk»). it was sort of a joke at first that we took this class (you know, patrick/​demi ghost, whoopi. hahaha), but we soon realized that it was such a great experience learning how to throw and mold clay into useful objects… well, the avocado was just for fun, not to mention my boyfiend’s «no smoking’ ashtray… plus, the temescal district is pretty hip, and my favorite fried chicken sandwich place «bake sale betty» is just around the block on telegraph ave… studio one art center makes the temescal district just another reason why its one of my top places to hopefully buy a house one day…

I’m reluctant to write about Studio One b/​c it’s one of the East Bay’s best kept secrets and I like the small class sizes! I have been taking figurative sculpting lessons with a live model here for a couple of years now and the instruction is fabulous, and you can’t beat the price. Studio One has now moved back into its former digs and it’s INCREDIBLE. It was completely remodeled and retrofitted and it’s such a treat to make art in such a beautiful building.

Studio One Art Center is the only arts studio publicly run by the City of Oakland Parks and Recreation department.
Built in 1894, the original unreinforced masonry and wood structure was designed for use as an orphanage. It wasn’t until 1948 that the site was considered for the location of a city-​run arts program. The building is currently undergoing major seismic retrofitting, interior rehabilitation and exterior site work. Costing upwards of 10 million dollars to complete, this rehabilitation project is funded by Oakland’s Measure DD for clean water and safe parks.
The retrofitted building will re-​open it’s doors to the public in late Fall of 2007, and will offer classes in clay ceramics and sculpture, jewelry making, painting and drawing, photography, theater arts, and more.