3rd Ward

3rd Ward is a fantastic space, where you can take classes to quench what seems to be an endless amount of artistic curiosity.  Wood working? Yes.  Jewelry making?  What step?  Setting jewels?  Making molds from wax?  Metal working?  Photography?  

I was just there for a for-fun photoshoot and we utilized their photography studio because my friend is a member of 3rd Ward.  The room is a blank canvas of white walls and we brought our own backgrounds, props, etc.  On our breaks, we wandered through the space seeing room after room where you can learn so many different skills.  I truly wish I had this at my disposal in Los Angeles.

A friend of mine best summed up the 3rd Ward business model as Aspiration Profiteering. The marketing goes something like:

You can make stuff!
It''ll be great!
You can become an artist!
We will make you an artist!

3rd Ward only has the capacity to facilitate one of those towards actually happening. You can make stuff. The details in an ascent to greatness, towards artistry, are more complicated than they'd like you to believe. But 3rd Ward will take your money and assure you everything's going to be just fine. You'll be fine. You'll be great. Have a green bike.

There's no arguing the warm and fuzzy glow felt in the one-off classes. In an afternoon you can easily walk away feeling accomplished having done something creative. You have a tangible thing in your hands! It's not another spreadsheet at the office! It's akin to pride you had making smiley face art with macaroni, glue, and a paper plate in kindergarten.

3rd Ward specializes in creating that feeling in their classes. Now that you're an adult, maybe you'd get that feeling when you'd make a vegetarian banh mih. Maybe you'd get it making some impractical blinky bike lights. Maybe you'd like to blacksmith. I bet you'd like to blacksmith. You know you'd like to blacksmith. I definitely blacksmithed. Blacksmithing is awesome. Five stars for blacksmithing.

I was an unlimited member for a year. My objective was to get access to the studio spaces for photography. I exploited the access to classes as best I could, used the photography studios when possible, and tried to get the most for the money. When they doubled the monthly membership fee it was time for me to leave.

While there were good moments, the overall experience was unfortunately negative for me. Never once did I feel as though I was part of a community so much as I was a profit margin in an institutional art education enterprise.

Booking studio time was a hassle. Studios were frequently booked, there was a fee (though nominal) for booking a week in advance, and sometimes the studios were used as classrooms. I'd booked studios that were later double booked and unavailable. I'd booked studios and never received confirmation emails to learn without getting those confirmation emails, you didn't really book the studio. This effectively cancelled jobs.

Booking classes was complicated because they had restrictions on how many unlimited members could join. Unlimited members couldn't sign up through the website. You had to call or visit in person.

There were positives. I made friends in the classes. Some of us formed a study group outside of our MaxMSP class. But we did this because our instructor was too busy working on his personal exhibition at 3rd Ward during the class he was supposed to be teaching. The next week he just didn't show up at all. Four of us took it upon ourselves to learn the software. There were no refunds for the students who paid for that class, only an apology an an opportunity to reschedule on another day and time. And rescheduling was an impossibility for some fellow students.

Other classes I took succumbed to technical difficulties. Hardware like projectors or computers wouldn't be available or would arrive late. iMacs in the lab would have system changes that prevented students from following the instructor's curriculum. Class would be held up while we all tech-supported those on the problematic machines.

Some of my instructors were poorly suited for the classes they taught. Many were well-intended and professional, with great advice to give, but hampered by the knowledge gaps of the students. Course descriptions targeted professionals but nothing stopped the general public from getting in. I was in more than one photography class with students who not only weren't photographers, they didn't own cameras. Those students had nothing to contribute and were a drain on already limited time and resources.

I had no intent to write a virtriolic review of 3rd Ward on Yelp after walking away a few months ago. But shortly after ending membership at 3rd Ward, an instructor from my photo portfolio review class emailed a friend and client of mine to solicit work. I showed the work I shot for that client in class. My name is on that client's website. The images I showed in class are next to my name on the client's website and there's no way you can email her through the website without noticing this. It's either tacky, sneaky or stupid. I don't know which.

And that is why I think 3rd Ward is a failure as an institution. They're focused on growth of their business rather than its refinement. I still get their promotional emails. They want to create cafes, sell you schemes and contests to show your work, and build branches in Philadelphia. But they lack a fundamental ability to choose good instructors. Without good instructors, how good can the instruction be?

They've replaced their director of education since I left. I hope things improve.

I don't recommend taking jewelry classes here...

I took a jewelry class last year. The fee was expensive. It was not a good deal for the quality of the class and the space.

The teacher was nice but she was in her 20's, & a  little inexperienced as a teacher and sometimes her teaching style was bossy and she treated us like children.  ( I heard that she was also teaching kids crafts so maybe that's why..)  Compared to FIT or Fitzgerald Jewelry in Williamsburg, this jewelry class was about 3 stars out of 10.

Also, some of the tools in the studio were old so it was difficult to use.

And the studio was soo small and we were behind glass, while people looked in at us.. so we felt like we were animals in zoo...

It's better to go to other jewelry schools. Please be careful about.

Well they went out of business and evidently screwed a bunch of people out of their dues money and access along the way. Wamp wamp.

A Haiku for 3rd Ward:

Do it yourself home
Become wood and metal god
A pricey hobby

As excited as I was about taking a woodworking class at 3rd Ward, my experience had been nothing but disappointing.

The workspace: the space where the class is taking place is shared with other craftsmen who are working on their projects and as such, it's frustratingly busy and unbelievably loud, as various saws and machines are constantly engaged simultaneously. The noise made it next to impossible to hear the explanations of our instructor, making the experience very frustrating.

The class size: while it seems that 6 people would make for a small class, in reality, 70% of the time in the 3 hour class is spent waiting. I felt that I learned something at a rate that simply cannot justify 3 hours of my time. It's understandable that it's necessary to wait to use a table saw, but why not have a 1.5 hour class of 3 people instead? In addition, we also had to wait to use anything and everything else, including small hand tools: our instructor had ONE planer, ONE glue scraper, ONE bottle of glue, etc.

The facilities: there are no lockers to put away your personal belongings. In the woodshop itself, the vacuums collecting dust are far from powerful, resulting in significant dust freely floating in the air and, presumably, landing in your lungs.

Location: in the middle of nowhere, requiring a 10 minute walk along deserted industrial-looking streets from the nearest subway station.

The instructor was the only aspect of the class I liked, but not even his knowledge of the subject could compensate for the rest of the unfortunate experience.

I still have two classes left, but I've realized that I'm dreading the three hours instead of looking forward to them and I doubt I'll be finishing the course.

I just got finished taking a bag construction course and it was a complete waste of my time. its only 3 classes but it should have been longer considering we were suppose to construct 3 different bags. Many of the students barely completed one bag by the end of the course. The instructor was lovely but the class was unorganized and lacked supplies and space. The description given on the site was totally different from what the instructor wanted us to do.

The site tells us to bring several yards of fabric but once I got to the class the instructor informed us it was a leather only class. There was only one functioning sewing machine  and most of my time was spent waiting . Also, dont let the photos fool you.

It's amazing how a nude male model with a gut and a tremendous amount of confidence can start to look pretty damn hawt after a while.

We attended Drink n Draw here. For $10, you bring your own supplies and they provide a nude model (male or female) and unlimited Pabst beer. Get here a bit early to get a seat because people were left standing and crammed in.

You don't need to be a real artist. I literally had two pieces of drawing paper, a pencil and a book to support the paper. We had a great time.

I think it was $10 each if you go as a pair. If you go alone, just pair up with someone in line.

I am currently enrolled in a course here, Intro to Dreamweaver, and I think it's pretty informative and easy to understand. I will let y'all know how it goes, but so far so good.  

I chose to take a class here as oppose to what J.K. details as more reputable institutions with a different rationale. The universities, FIT, NYU, Parsons, Pratt, and SVA, have to offer continuing education or non credit courses in order to stand as one of the top art universities - 3rd ward doesn't. I have to think they only offer the classes when they know they have someone to teach it. My teacher has written the book on Dreamweaver and you can tell in class. I have taken classes at both NYU (photoshop intermediate) and FIT(advanced illustrator) - NYU was a joke and I dropped out after the first class with a refund. FIT was pretty good - on same playing field as my current class.

The only assurance you get with the other universities is a partial refund.. not sure of 3rd Wards policy.  For now, I look forward to taking some others this winter.

A nice space in need of a little love in sorta kinda Bushwick.

To get there, if you can journey past the warehouses, the belly of East Williamsburg (cough, Bushwick), and the crazy low-flying planes overhead without getting gangbanged, you're doing something wrong.