Crystal Allen graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Sculpture and a dual emphasis in Robotics in 2010. She followed that up with a 3 month bike tour, 3 months backpacking in Mexico and continued her education in electronics and engineering at Makani Power|Airborne Wind Energy. She recently returned from a 6 month sailing voyage and is living in Oakland working with artists and gardeners. She aspires to build a creative space to undertake new artistic experiments.
Oxbow forced me to create, and by creating, I established foundation for my thought.
— Jamie Roux, Spring 2003
The art that goes on in most high schools is usually relatively skill-based. At Oxbow, there is more emphasis on looking and seeing and more critical thinking about what you are doing, the human connection, that personal element. Through art you can begin to understand yourself better. That may be the biggest eye-opener for students. It is almost a preview of college. Get out of the mechanical factory high school education and get into something open, new, and invigorating in a small environment.
— Bill Barrett, Former Oxbow Board Member, Former Executive Director of Association, College of Art and Design (AICAD)
At Oxbow, the eye and the hand are inseparable from the mind and because their peers are also artists, students adopt fresh attitudes toward their work.
— Charles Altieri, Rachel Anderson Stageberg Chair, Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley
A School Like No Other