Are you searching for a creative outlet in your life? Creative endeavors are an ideal way to relieve stress, distract from worries and experience a feeling of achievement, and the UC Davis Craft Center is the perfect place to explore your artistic options.

As a special incentive for faculty and staff, the Craft Center is offering an online coupon good for a 10 percent discount on any class this winter quarter.

The Craft Center, a unit of the Department of Campus Recreation, offers more than 90 classes each quarter, ranging from one-day workshops to seven-week courses. The center is open to staff, faculty, students and the general public.

Classes are offered in ceramics, woodworking, photography, glass, flame working, jewelry, screen printing, welding, textiles (weaving, sewing, dyeing), and arts and crafts.

Many UC Davis employees have discovered a new passion after taking Craft Center classes.

Cynthia Goldberg, a coordinator at the Internship and Career Center, has taken numerous classes over the past six years, primarily in ceramics, glass and painting.

“I love to create,” Goldberg said. “The Craft Center offers me the opportunity to create while surrounded by people of all ages and backgrounds who share this same interest. We can share the center’s resources that we could never access individually, and we can share this wonderful experience-based aspect of lifelong learning.”

Julia Luckenbill, who works as a lecturer and program coordinator in the Department of Human and Community Development, has taken more than 40 classes at the Craft Center over the past eight years.

“I love the concept of being a renaissance woman,” Luckenbill said. “I like to be well rounded with skills in many areas. For this reason, I've taken many different classes in things I didn't think I could do.

"Taking classes forces you to take time to be reflective and creative. My day job is very busy with lots of people to keep track of. ... Making an artwork requires you to let that go and focus on yourself.”

Both Luckenbill and Goldberg enjoy the one-on-one instruction they receive at the Craft Center. Class sizes are small, averaging six to 10 students, so everyone is able to receive plenty of attention from the instructors.

Most classes are geared toward beginners, although students also have opportunities to pursue higher skill levels.

New classes this winter include Relief Printmaking, Glass Casting, Blacksmithing, Creative Fabric Dyeing and Introduction to the Scroll Saw.

If you are short on time, the center offers Craft Bits, which are one- to three-day introductory classes. In these workshops, participants can quickly create unique, handcrafted items that make great gifts for friends or family. Popular workshops include Soap Making, Lathe-Turned Pens and Introduction to Glass Fusing.

Complete class listings can be found in the winter Recreation Guide. It is available in print at a variety of locations, including the Craft Center (in the South Silo), the Activities and Recreation Center, the Memorial Union Information Desk and the Silo. The guide also is available online (click on the Recreation Guide Winter '09 box on the right-hand side of the page).

Students get priority registration (10 a.m.-10 p.m. Jan. 5 and 6), while general registration starts at 10 a.m. Jan. 7. Registration for each class continues until it fills or begins. Popular classes fill quickly, so early registration is advised.

There are three ways to register:

• In person, with payment by cash, check, or Visa or MasterCard.

• By telephone, (530) 752-1475, with payment by Visa or MasterCard.

• By mail or fax using the registration form on the Craft Center Web site (click on "Registration" on the left-hand side of the page).

Online registration is not available.

Faculty and staff can claim their discount, when registering in person or by mail or fax, by using the coupon on the Craft Center Web site (click on the "Faculty-Staff Discount" box on the right-hand side of the page). Print a copy and take it with you when you register, enclose it with your mail-in registration or fax the coupon with your registration form. If registering by phone, simply mention “staff winter discount."

The 12,500-square-foot Craft Center features 10 studios with all of the equipment needed to pursue a wide variety of arts and crafts. The center offers hand tools and small power tools that participants can check out for use in the Craft Center.

More information: (530) 752-1475 or craftcenter@campusrec.ucdavis.edu.

Susan Barnes is an assistant director in the Department of Campus Recreation, overseeing the Craft Center.