Classes in blacksmithing, jewelry, clay, and welding are on offer for the holidays.
The Steel Yard (TSY) in Providence’s Valley Arts District is offering courses, workshops, and gift cards for this holiday season. You can choose from various options, such as taster classes in blacksmithing, jewelry, ceramics, and welding.
For gift cards, the purchaser sets the amount they wish to give the recipient. To buy a card, visit TSY’s website at thesteelyard.org, hover on “Take a Class” and in the dropdown menu click on “Course Catalog”; in the sidebar that has filtering options, type “the store” in the top box. You’ll be brought to the Gift Certificate page. Click on “Learn More” to get started.
All classes are held at TSY’s 3.8-acre campus at 27 Sims Avenue, and conducted by its talented instructors.
Hooked on Blacksmithing, a three-hour taster class, will focus on J-hooks and S-hooks of different styles. Participants will learn basic skills such as tapering, punching, drifting, bending, and twisting in the session, which will be conducted on Jan 8, 2026.
Intro to Jewelry will teach the fundamentals of jewelry-making techniques, design and fabrication. A range of hand-tool processes will be covered through practical exercises and concept-based projects in the course, which will meet weekly from Jan 15 to March 5.
Hands in Clay will introduce students to foundational techniques in ceramic hand-building, including pinch, coil, slab, and simple mold making. Students can choose to create functional or sculptural forms while glazing techniques. It’ll run weekly from Jan 26 to March 16.
Cuttlefish Casting will let students play with fire and small metals. Students will learn how to carve molds out of the backbone of the Mediterranean squid, how to melt and pour silver into their molds, and learn finishing techniques in this workshop, which will be held on Feb 7.
“Give the gift of a world still made by hand today,” says Asaad Miller, the Communicators and Events director of TSY.
For these courses and more, visit their course catalog at www.thesteelyard.org/course-catalog
–John Picinich