Officials at Aims Community College are hoping their Fort Lupton campus can become the starting point for a new generation of metal artists.
"We want to expand the class to more folk and communities that want to learn how to create art with welding," said Cody Jones, Department Chairman for the Welding and Technology Department for the Fort Lupton and Greeley Aims Community campuses.
Aims has offered a welding program at the Greeley campus for ten years and the Fort Lupton campus for seven years. The Creative Welding class has been successfully taught at the Greeley campus, so the administration decided to bring it to the Fort Lupton campus.
This is the first time the Creative Welding program will be offered at the Fort Lupton Aims campus. It kicks off in this upcoming semester, set to begin in February.
The instructor for this class is Brian Martella, who owns Erie Atomic Forge & Welding. Martella and has an art sculpture degree from CSU.
"He has been running his own business in art sculpture and general metal fabrication for over 20 years and has been teaching at Aims for 10 years. He's a fantastic instructor," Jones said.
Jones said that each Creative Welding student works on their project, each with different ideas.
"The class is designed for anybody — with zero experience or those who have been doing it for 10 to 15 years and may need little extra guidance on a particular project they are working on," Jones said.
In the classes, Jones said many artists and hobbyists are building end tables for their homes, some have built built fire pits and firewood holders, and some people are working on bumpers for their SUVs.
"The primary student will become an artist and a lot of people come out of programs building kinetic sculptures," Jones said.
Jones said the classes are smaller, about ten people, with a maximum of 15. It's a class for both men and women.
"We typically have a large demographic of females in this class. The state data shows females in these weld classes was about 8% last semester, and it's increasing to 18%," Jones said. "We are excited the Fort Lupton class is half-full of registered students already."
The Creative Welding class starts at the Fort Lupton Aims campus every Friday on February 10 through April 21 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. The course is repeatable with a maximum of 12 credit hours.
Students interested in the Welding program should contact the Welding Department for advising and registration.
For information about Greeley classes, call 970- 339-6203 or email welding.greeley@aims.edu. For information about Fort Lupton classes, call 303- 718-5345 or email welding.fortlupton@aims.edu.
