Danaca Design

There is no doubt Dana is an accomplished artist and this talent shines through with her teaching. She is patient, helpful and her demonstrations make it all look so easy. Where it might not come so easy as a student (me), Dana is right there to further instruct, be so helpful and kind and in the end, make you feel like you can really do this. It has been a pleasure to be in her class and anyone thinking of learning about creating jewelery, this is the place to be!!!

danaca design is an excellent educational facility and dana is an enthusiastic, warm, gracious and wise teacher. she «owns her subject» and she shares her knowledge freely. i learned an amazing amount in a short period of time.
highly recommended.

I took a two-​day class (Jewelry Making Basics with Wire) at Danaca this past weekend. It was super informative and very fun, and the instructor, Jennifer, was amazing! We learned how to solder, shape wire, and even how to set a stone; I came away from the class with several pieces. For a true beginner, this studio was a dream — super friendly, approachable staff & instructors who were very patient and wonderful teachers. I enjoyed it so much that I’m setting up a small studio at home and am planning to sign up for more classes in August to keep learning about new techniques!

Danaca Design is a great little gallery and studio space. It seems small at first, but then you realize there are two other rooms hiding back there!
The front area is all gallery and jewelry-​making-​supply store. The gallery is beautifully curated, with I think mostly artists from the area. The jewelry ranges in price, from the incredibly affordable, to the expensive, but SO worth it.
The store offers many unique, handmade tools, locally crafted by artist and tool maker Bill Dawson. I covet the handmade chasing tools every time I go in!
Danaca Design is conveniently located close to and between many different bus routes. The neighborhood is sparse, one of those that is slowly, sadly changing from charming old homes-​turned-​businesses type, into the prepackaged-​feeling mixed use buildings that seem to be popping up everywhere around town.
The work space is very organized. Dana has generously provided just about every tool one could possibly need, and she always knows where those tools should go.
Dana’s well connected in the jewelry scene, knowledgeable and very helpful. She’ll run you a tab while you’re taking one of the many wonderful classes so you don’t have to interrupt your making with the whole checkout process. Pick a tool, tell her what it is, let her write it down, and off you go to more creating! (I needed a scribe, didn’t have one at home.)
I had been aware of Danaca Design for many years, but only recently decided to ask for a class as a birthday present. (Yay!) I took the Eastern Repousse class with Victoria Lansford. It was a three day intensive workshop which was simple amazing. I loved that most of the first day we had demos, and an introductory project, then the next two days we learned a little bit more, but mostly had time to work, and ask Victoria all the questions we possibly could. Third day was mostly work day, with a short demo.
This studio is a great place to take a class, sign up for membership, take some mentored study classes if you need a little more guidance, and learn a bit more about this ancient art. I hope Danaca Design stays around for many, many years to come!

I am new to soldering and really pretty new to jewelry making in general so I was fairly nervous about attending the Soldering Essentials class. I loved it! Dana is very friendly and approachable. The other students in the class all had more experience than I did but made me feel welcome. They were all very helpful when it came time to practice soldering.
The space is comfortable, safe and organized. Dana is extremely knowledgeable and patient. I did need to buy some supplies at the end of the day and at no time did I experience any sales pressure. It was very honest and professional.
I walked out of Soldering Essentials more educated, inspired and excited. I would highly recommend taking classes at Danaca.

I have been taking beginning jewelry classes at different places for the last 2 months and I must admit Dana’s class has been the best so far. She is witty and fun to learn from. Her classes are well structured and she helps along the way. I am definitely planning to go back for more classes in the future or at least have some mentored independent study with her. Strongly recommending!

Took a class with Cynthia Toops, micro mosaics and it was honestly one of the best classes I’ve ever taken. The price was very reasonable, the teacher amazingly generous with her talent and time. I hope to take many more classes there. And the facility was great! It was comfortable and very well equipped!

Dana is a great teacher who is able to make technical information easy to digest. It’s always put in a greater context so you understand why you’re doing something. She also does it with humor and generosity.
The one-​day ring class was great. It’s an information-​packed day with an introduction to many tools – mallets, stamping tools, buffing machine, patinas, etc. – and basic soldering. This is a good class to get a little of everything and walk out with your very own ring. I think I’m hooked.

This is a cute, super complete jewelry studio. They just have every tool possible for you to use for your personal projects which are supervised by amazing instructors. Ever wanted to learn a new technique? They have a class for it for sure, or and intermediate class or an advanced class. The people there are the best, always looking to help and share their knowledge in the most friendly way.

Before I was a Navy officer and an accountant, what I really wanted to do after high school was to be a metal and stone artist. I got drafted instead. With great trepidation I joined a jewelry making class last Fall at Danaca design with people old enough to be my children and grandchildren. With skills from high school art class in the early 1960s I figured this was a lost cause and I would flunk out. Instead, it was a wonderful experience and I actually made a few pieces good enough to be in the holiday show. Now I am going back for the mentored study classes and having a great time and making many art friends, something I have missed in the military and business world.

Just started my second class at Danaca.
I love taking classes here. The class sizes are small, the instructors are working (talented) artists who seem to really love seeing others learn and learning new things themselves along the way. Play is encouraged, but so is safety.
I love getting compliments on the jewelry I’ve made in class. I plan on taking many more classes at Danaca.
Plus if you just want to buy some fantastically cool jewelry and not take a class, they have that too.

I spent this past weekend sawing metals, soldering, playing with an acid cleaner called «Pickle» and pounding things on anvils.
My sister likes to learn new things, so my Christmas present to her was a beginning silversmithing class at Danaca Design. It was really well put together – the lectures were hands-​on and the instructor told us the chemical reasons behind the different metal reactions. In fact, whenever she taught us something new, Dana always explained why you would choose to do something the way she was teaching us versus another way to accomplish the same thing.

First I took a basic silversmithing class, then I took a class on making silver rings, then I was hooked for life. Dana, the owner, is fabulous and teaches the basic class herself. Lots of other great designers teach other classes — whatever you want to know about working metals. The storefont gallery is full of beautiful jewelry and they will design unique one of a kind pieces for you or teach you how to make jewelry yourself. This bright, welcoming place at the north end of the Ave is on the U District Art Walk. Don’t miss it.