Meet Bella: Youth Instructor & 30 Hour Boatbuilder

Bella joined Urban Boatbuilders in June 2024 and has since worked herself up to the Youth Instructor level! She will also be one of the talented builders tackling our 30 Hour Boat Build challenge on April 3-4th! Read below for her Builder Q&A!

What drew you to UBB?

I really wanted to learn more about the trades. I’m definitely still at a point where I’m still exploring my job options and figuring out what I want to do. And I also really enjoy the atmosphere of this place.

What’s your favorite UBB memory so far?

Overcoming starting a job and having no idea what I’m doing. I think it’s very easy to feel like everyone else knows what’s going on and you don’t, but that’s not the case…I had never used a handsaw…There were just little things that were new. I really enjoyed learning new things.

Favorite part of boatbuilding?

I really like the hands-on part of making the yokes and thwarts. Not necessarily just the art, but the spokeshaving and sanding and that kind of stuff.

What are you most excited for this upcoming 30-hour boat build?

I’m just really intrigued of how it’s gonna go! I’m kinda nervous, cause all of us are gonna feel the pressure, but I also think it's going to be really fun. We can only do our best, right? So I’m not trying to stress out about it too much. I’m very excited.

What’s your advice for those new to boatbuilding?

I would definitely say go for it, try it, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

You can watch Bella, in addition to apprentices, volunteers, staff, board and more, race to build a canoe in 30 hours at our shop or on Youtube! More details here!

A Starry Night- Maixue

Besides building boats, our talented apprentices find many other ways to put their creative skills to use! Meet Maixue, who started at UBB through our Partnership Program with Focus Beyond Transition Services. After enjoying her experience, she soon after applied and was accepted into our apprenticeship program.

This cohort, on top of working on the Wilderness Traveler canoe, she handcrafted a cutting board and individualized it with her own design of a starry night.

“It’s based off of Minnesota…I really like Minnesota because outside is really beautiful,” said Maixue. Her board was also inspired by her recent trip up north where she saw the Northern Lights.

Using woodburning, Maixue drew out trees that line the border of her board, as well as stars. She also points out how the wood she chose shifts between light and dark, just like how we experience sunset and sunrises every day.

We love how our apprentices use what they learned at UBB to personalize their own projects! Click here to support youth like Maixue today!

UBB is featured in Sunrise Banks Blog

Urban Boatbuilders got a shoutout from our longtime banking partner Sunrise Banks in their blog "A Sunrise Banks Passport to the Minnesota State Fair!" Thanks to Amanda Thiesen for visiting the woodshop and the wonderful write-up. Check out the blog below:

Summer in Minnesota wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Minnesota State Fair. Between August 22 and Labor Day, hundreds of thousands of people will descend up on the State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights to get in their fair share of cheese curds, sweet corn, farm animals, Giant Slide and Carousel rides, Grandstand shows…and don’t forget the Sweet Martha’s Cookies!

Here at Sunrise Banks, we love nothing more than supporting our customers when they get the opportunity to share what they love with the people around them. Surprisingly (or not), you’ll find several well-known State Fair vendors that have ties to Sunrise Banks.

So, when you enter the Fairgrounds in the coming days, make sure to stop by their booths and show them some Sunrise love!

Photo by Amanda Thiesen

Urban Boatbuilders:

Urban Boatbuilders is a nonprofit that works with youth ages 16-21 on building skills for trades careers by building boats. It offers a variety of programs, including semester-long apprenticeship programs for students who may have encountered systemic barriers to traditional employment.

“In that semester, they not only build a boat, but they also take field trips to look at union jobs, construction jobs, or opportunities in trades and manufacturing,” says Gretchen Wilbrandt, Director of Development & Community Engagement at Urban Boatbuilders. “They get that worksite exposure and understanding about how they would get paid, the type of training they would need and job expectations.”

Urban Boatbuilders also works with apprentices on career readiness skills, financial literacy, mental health, self-advocacy and working as a team. Gretchen says over time, the staff and instructors develop strong relationships with the participants.

Read the full story here