Students ventured into “America’s Glass City” on Feb. 19 to attend a glass paperweight workshop at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. This event was organized by Pitt Arts through its Free Arts Encounters program. In this session, participants made their own glass paperweights with the assistance of instructors. In addition to the free class, attendees of the workshop received a tour of the facilities, a walk through the gallery and a bowl-making demonstration.
Along the tour, participants learned about the history of glasswork as a craft and in Pittsburgh specifically. The center recently underwent renovations and now houses new workrooms. Complete with a sleek gallery, stocked gift shop, educational exhibits and rooftop patios, the Pittsburgh Glass Center is a state-of-the-art facility.
DaVaughn Vincent-Bryan, the inaugural director of student involvement at Pitt, emphasized the importance of free arts experiences for students.
“Pitt Arts Free Arts Encounters aim to connect students with Pittsburgh’s rich cultural landscape and encourage active participation in the arts both on campus and in the city,” Vincent-Bryan said. “Engaging in the arts fosters creativity, personal expression and well-being, enriching the student experience.”
The Pittsburgh Glass Center opened in 2001 with the goal to “cultivate community, foster economic growth, and thereby change the city,” as outlined on its website. Pittsburgh has a long history with glassmaking and was once known as “America’s Glass City.” At one point, Pittsburgh glass workers made tiles for New York City’s tunnels, headlamps for Ford cars and lights for the Panama Canal. Though steel took over as Pittsburgh’s signature production, traditional glassmaking has recently had a resurgence.
Jess Schwarz, an artist who works at the center and lives in Friendship, has been working with glass for eight years. Starting in high school, Schwarz has made glass through a variety of methods. Schwarz highlighted the interpersonal relationships that are specific to the craft.
”It teaches you to work well with people, because you can’t really work alone,” Schwarz said. “And the relationships you develop are really, really cool.”
Glasswork is an art form that requires significant practice. Many artists at the center have spent years learning their craft. Schwarz discussed the difficulty of glassmaking and the dedication of time it demands from an artist.
“It’s like any other craft medium like ceramics or textiles, where I don’t think enough people appreciate it or realize how difficult it is,” Schwarz said. “I’ve been doing it for eight years and I am nowhere close to a lot of people I have worked with.”
The delicacy of glassmaking quickly became clear to the workshop’s participants. Claire Barrios, a sophomore environmental engineering major, had never worked with glass before the Pitt Arts event. Barrios noted the precision and focus that glasswork demands of an artist.
“It’s really interesting to me how moldable the glass is when it’s really hot, but you have to be very careful whenever you do it because if you make one wrong move it can shatter, or mess up the piece, or crack,” Barrios said. “So, I think it’s just really interesting how concise the glass [makers] have to be whenever they are working.”
Barrios expressed her motivation and excitement when attending the glassmaking workshop.
”It just seemed really cool. I really like doing different things,” Barrios said. “I felt like it would be just an interesting experience, and it was.”
The practical skills necessary for glassworking are plentiful and extend further into participants’ lives than their art alone. As it is a tedious and team-focused craft, glassworking helps artists strengthen their patience, confidence and teamwork skills. Schwarz discusses their observations through work at the center.
“It’s cool to see people develop confidence. A lot of people come in super, super scared and really nervous and really trepidatious, and they don’t think that they have any creativity and they don’t think that they can do it,” Schwarz said. “By the end of even a two-hour workshop, a lot of people feel a lot better about themselves, and are more confident. Like, if you can blow glass, you can go about your daily life. It’s dangerous, it’s something that’s really hard to do.”
Vincent-Bryan mirrored Schwarz’s sentiment, emphasizing the impact that these life lessons learned from glassworking have on college students.
”Hands-on experiences like this foster curiosity, confidence and interdisciplinary connections, sparking new interests that may carry into students’ academic or personal lives,” Vincent-Bryan said. “Many students leave these workshops inspired to continue engaging with the arts.”