I’ve never been to Burning Man (I know, I know), but on a recent visit to American Steel in West Oakland I felt like I got an insight into the event that few ever see.
American Steel was once the repair shop for ships working out of the Port of Oakland. The mammoth building’s 10-ton bridge cranes were used to hoist some very heavy objects. The facility was also used for large-scale pipe fabrication. But the ship repair and pipe fab eras ended long ago. American Steel sat empty for 30 years until artist Karen Cusolito rolled up the doors and moved in.
In 2005 she was commissioned to build a 30-foot tall sculpture for Burning Man and American Steel’s lofty ceilings and burly cranes made it just the kind of space she was looking for. She built her amazingly human sculptures out of twisted steel and scrap metal and then left, leaving American Steel vacant once again. But she got another commission and returned to facility. Word of American Steel spread through the Bay Area’s art and maker community and Karen realized the region needed the facility. Long story short, she leased the building (it’s the size of a city block) and sub-leases space to a wide range of tenants. About one-third of Am Steel’s tenants create art for Burning Man, but the rest do any number of things. There are artists, brewers, silk screeners, electronics shops, metal fabricators, sculptors, and even an organic fertilizer company. It’s now called American Steel Studios and there are 164 tenants in all.
“This is a gritty neighborhood, but there’s some real beauty being created,” says Karen. “The arts add a lot to the community and we are a community unto ourselves.
That community spilled over to help create Peralta Junction across the street, a mix of maker faire and carnival.
American Steel Studios is unique in the U.S. because its size, cheap rent, and those giant cranes. Industrial scale artists and designers from across the United States come here to make big stuff.
Walking around American Steel allowed me to peek into the workshops and creative spaces of dozens of artists and makers. It was inspiring. Karen was in the process of readying seven of her gargantuan sculptures for a journey the Brazilian rainforest where a private collector purchased them. Here are a few photos of what I saw.
[make_slideshow slug=”american-steel-inside-and-out” title=”15 American Steel Inside and Out” link=”Start the Slideshow”]
9 thoughts on “American Steel: Making on a Large Scale”
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Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center: http://ricdetroit.org/
2.2 million square feet
detroit sounds great, but * w a a a a y * too cold! perhaps for seasonal art-making? i can’t imagine what it would take to heat and cool at six acre warehouse, like the american steel facility. think a seasonal work-trade could be an interesting idea…?
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[…] nationally recognized artist communities and workspaces like 275,000-square-foot American Steel and The Crucible, West Oakland in particular has emerged as a hub for artists and tinkerers. […]
[…] the workshop he’s had for the past 8 years at famed East Bay industrial workspace, American Steel, is getting yanked out from under him, just as he’s near completion on his tower. The […]
[…] ところが、あと少しでタワーが完成するという段になって、彼が8年間利用してきたイーストベイの有名な工業系ワークスペース、American Steelにハシゴを外されてしまった。建物はニューヨークの投資家に売却されてしまったのだ。彼の科学研究は、新しいスペースの方針にそぐわなかったようだ。Leyhはどうしたかって？ 移動式にしたのだ。詳しいことを本人に話してもらった。 […]