Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center upcoming events

Sand Casting with Gemstones (Wed, November 04, 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We're welcoming Brienna Hall of Shrine Jewelry back to the CAFAC jewelry studio for this specialty workshop!

Designed for students with experience doing sand casting for jewelry, this class focuses on casting gemstones into place on your jewelry objects. Elevate your work with some sparkly bling embedded in the precious metals you use. We'll cover multiple ways to incorporate gemstones with different setting options from flush set, prong set, tube set and more! You'll also be able to explore casting with other items besides gems (e.g., cremains, beach sand, rocks, etc.). We'll focus on the core casting system which incorporates sand casting with vacuum assist and allows for casting a greater variety of shapes.

Prerequisite: casting experience required. To be best prepared for this class, you'll have taken Brienna's Sand Casting for Jewelers workshop, or another sand casting workshop at CAFAC. If you haven't, but have experience with small scale casting techniques, you're welcome to join this class.

$300 ($240 tuition + $60 materials) | 3 sessions
Open to ages 16 and up.

Nestled along the rugged coastline of Mendocino, California, Brienna Hall is the creative force behind Shrine Jewelry. Operating her full-time jewelry business, Brienna also shares her expertise through workshops across northern California. With a keen eye for detail, she empowers her students to explore diverse techniques. Brienna's own creations often blend textile methods with metalwork and embrace the unique character of small-scale sand casting. Her designs fuse organic elements with modern aesthetics, imbued with hints of historical narrative. At the core of Shrine Jewelry lies the belief that each individual is a shrine deserving of meaningful adornment. Brienna encourages wearers to reflect on the intention behind their adornments, cherishing the quality and energy infused into each handmade piece.

Sand Casting with Gemstones (Thu, November 05, 2026)

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We're welcoming Brienna Hall of Shrine Jewelry back to the CAFAC jewelry studio for this specialty workshop!

$300 ($240 tuition + $60 materials) | 3 sessions
Open to ages 16 and up.

Sand Casting with Gemstones (Fri, November 06, 2026)

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We're welcoming Brienna Hall of Shrine Jewelry back to the CAFAC jewelry studio for this specialty workshop!

$300 ($240 tuition + $60 materials) | 3 sessions
Open to ages 16 and up.

Memento Mori with Sand Casting (Sat, November 07, 2026)

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Memento mori is the Latin phrase meaning “remember death.” In this weekend workshop siblings scottie and Brienna Hall teach the ancient practice of sand casting intertwined with ritual and intention.

Through metalworking, fire, and guided ceremony, students cast a personal keepsake imbued with meaning and memory. Participants will explore the history of sand casting and be guided through the process from cradle to grave: making a mold, safely using a torch, casting with molten metal, and finishing a bespoke piece.

This is an invitation to reflect on impermanence, grief, and loss. We will look to death as a teacher, hold life gently as students, and remember that we too will die.

Participants are encouraged to bring a cherished object, cremains of a loved one, symbolic material, or a personal offering to incorporate into their piece. As part of our two-day ritual, teachers and students will co-create an altar and ceremony to honor the significance of the memento mori practice.

This workshop is open to all levels of experience. The only prerequisite is a willingness to reflect on the impermanence of life through ritual, storytelling, memories, and art making.

$500 ($400 tuition + $100 materials) | Weekend workshop
Open to ages 18 and up.

scottie hall (ze|zir) is a Minneapolis-based artist, hospice chaplain, budding harpist, and childless cat queer. Ze invites hospice patients and their circles of care to meet death with curiosity, self-discovery, and radical acceptance. A longtime Buddhist practitioner, scottie holds a MDiv from United Theological Seminary of Twin Cities where their studies included Interreligious Chaplaincy and Theopoetics.

Brienna Hall is a jewelry artist and educator based in Mendocino, California, with a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Fiber Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute. Through her practice, Shrine Jewelry, she explores themes of memory, impermanence, and transformation using sand casting, fabrication and recycled precious metals. Brienna teaches regularly in California and loves the joy and spontaneity that sand casting brings—she’s passionate about sharing that excitement through teaching and helping others create meaningful, personal work.

From previous students...

“This was my very first time creating something from sand casting. I was a little bit nervous to try it because I really didn't know what to expect. With the excellent guidance from the artists teaching the class, it was very easy to catch on and I actually created a test piece and a keepsake to remember my youngest son, who passed away when he was 12 years old.” — January 2026 workshop participant

“The poetry and readings as we gathered around the altar beginning and ending each day. Sharing the love and memories of the ones we are missing and grieving for. The gentle encouragement each of us received when something didn't go quite right. Realizing I could learn this ancient art of sand casting in a weekend! WOW!!” — January 2026 workshop participant

Memento Mori with Sand Casting (Sun, November 08, 2026)

Sun, 08 Nov 2026 19:00:00 GMT

This is an invitation to reflect on impermanence, grief, and loss. We will look to death as a teacher, hold life gently as students, and remember that we too will die.

This workshop is open to all levels of experience. The only prerequisite is a willingness to reflect on the impermanence of life through ritual, storytelling, memories, and art making.

$500 ($400 tuition + $100 materials) | Weekend workshop
Open to ages 18 and up.

From previous students...