The Transparent Self: Working in Glass

with Minami Oya and Nate Watson
GLASS 666 001 | 3 credits | $350 Lab Fee
June 1–14, 2025

Glass embodies a fluidity, range, and nuance well suited to expose the truths that every person holds. Through a series of material inquiries, and personal reflections, we’ll find the methods by which the stories that define us can best be made visible through glass. This workshop will examine the qualities that make glass such a powerful mode of expression and help students refine an honest and natural relationship with the material. We'll cover a range of foundational techniques including basic glassblowing, adhesives and assemblage, color application, basic coldworking, and sculpture techniques— A balancing of traditional and nontraditional processes will help you access the expression that comes from a harmony between you and the material. Through a series of short lectures, brief writing assignments, and thoughtful experiments, students will come to understand the range, immediacy, and responsiveness that glass can offer the creative process. Instructors will introduce contemporary artists like Vanessa German, Tavares Strachan, Fred Wilson, Team Lab, and many more who mine the material of glass in wildly different ways to alter how we observe the world and how we envision ourselves within it. Experiencing and reflecting on the material in its purest form while constantly checking in with how we tell our own truths through short writing prompts, we’ll consider where the language of glass and the stories that make us, overlap. Ultimately we’ll seek a merging of ourselves with the making process in a way that allows for our truths to melt into the spaces where we live and work and create together. The course begins with students responding to a series of writing prompts designed to produce short autobiographical excerpts. These expressions of self reflection are to be presented, discussed, and distilled into personal methodologies for approaching glass. Inquiry is the mechanism for refining individual paths in this course, as each unique story is transformed into a series of experiments and challenges through which each student builds a foundational understanding of how glass works.

Minami Oya (she/her) is a Japanese artist, glassmaker, and educator, who currently lives and works in San Francisco, California. Born and raised on the island of Sado in Japan, Minami grew up surrounded by nature, art, and the ancestral consciousness. Her work that employs glass and mixed media as metaphorical instruments, installations, and works on paper have been shown in solo and juried exhibitions in the United States. She began her deep passion for glass in 2008 at San Francisco State University and has trained with maestros in studios such as Pilchuck Glass School, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Corning Museum of Glass, and D.F. Glassworks in Murano, Italy. Minami holds a MFA in Spatial Art from San Jose State University and has taught in several institutions including California College of the Arts, San Jose State University, and Public Glass in San Francisco.

Nate Watson is a visual artist and cultural organizer currently working between San Francisco and Louisville. Before pursuing his graduate degree at the California College of Arts in 2004, Nate received a BA in history from Centre College and was awarded grants from the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island Council For the Arts for his work investigating intersections between immigration, labor, and craft traditions. In 2012 Nate co-founded Light A Spark, a collaborative glass focused arts program that provides rare opportunities and resources for youth in marginalized communities of San Francisco. Nate has lectured nationally and held teaching positions at San Francisco State University, The California College of Arts, and the University of Washington. Projects have been exhibited and supported by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wexner Center for the Arts, University of San Francisco Thacher Gallery, Berkeley Art Center, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery at Parsons School of Design, Southern Exposure Gallery, Chinese Cultural Center, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Tacoma Museum of Glass, The San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, and The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

Glassblowing

with Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez
GLASS 681 001 | 3 credits | $350 Lab Fee
June 15–28, 2025

This course will cover the fundamentals of glassblowing and is designed to develop a student’s foundational knowledge and skill upon which more advanced ideas can be built. Students will learn to gather hot glass out of the furnace and how to manipulate it with a variety of tools and techniques in both the hot shop and the cold shop. Productive practices including working as a team, timing and choreography, and using natural elements to execute ideas will be demonstrated. This course may include a screening of Glassmakers of Herat. We will investigate glassblowing from a historical approach and look at objects from different periods in history, including works made by Pino Signoretto, Bill Gudenrath, and Karen Willinbrink-Johnsen. Assignments will range from functional cup making, executing complex abstractions, and methods for coloring and patterning. This course will culminate in the completion of a student designed sculpture or installation to be exhibited in the hot shop.

Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez (she/her) combines poetry, images, glass objects, and neon light to create objects and installations that draw inspiration from her Puerto Rican and Persian heritage. She is the inaugural winner of the Adele and Leonard Leight Award from the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. She has been an artist in residence at Blue Mountain Center, Pilchuck Glass School and the Corning Museum of Glass, among others. Her work has been shown in dozens of museums and galleries in the US and abroad including the Museum of Craft and Design, Traver Gallery, Tacoma Museum of Glass, BWA Wrocław, and Glasmuseet Ebeltoft. Victoria is passionate about social change and arts education, and was previously the Director of The Bead Project at UrbanGlass, a program geared towards supporting people of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds as they learn how to work with the material. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Tyler School of Art, from which she received her BFA. She holds an MFA in Craft/Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Dinner Party

with Corey Pemberton
GLASS 676 001 | 3 credits | $350 Lab Fee
June 29–July 12

There’s nothing more satisfying than eating and drinking from handmade wares with friends. This course, open to students of all levels, will focus on establishing a strong foundation in form and function in service of manipulating molten glass into items for a communal table setting. We will learn the processes involved in making objects including drinkware, pitchers, serving bowls, plates, and candlesticks and consider the works of Judy Chicago, Beth Lipman, and Joe Cariati. Underscoring the social nature of the glassblowing process in the studio, our objective will be to create a tablescape to use for a social mixer at the end of the class, bringing everyone together to celebrate one another’s hard work and individuality. Students need only bring a good attitude, an open mind, and a hunger to learn!

Corey Pemberton (he/they) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at The Pittsburgh Glass Center; Bruket, Bodø, Norway; Alfred University, New York; as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina. He has exhibited work at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, California; The Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina; and has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Art and Design New York’ The Boston Museum of Fine Art; and The Chrysler Museum of Art, Virginia. Pemberton currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he splits his time between the nonprofit arts organization Crafting the Future, painting, and his glass practice. He strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.

Multi-level Glassblowing

with Will Hutchinson
GLASS 641 001 | 1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee
July 13–19

A hands-on studio workshop for those with some glassblowing experience. Students will learn a variety of techniques for manipulating molten “hot glass” into vessel or sculptural forms. Lectures, demonstrations, videos, and critiques will augment studio instruction.

Will Hutchinson (he/him) holds an MFA in sculpture from The University of Montana and BFA in drawing from The Art Academy of Cincinnati. He is a former smokejumper and all around adventurer. Invested in the truth of experience, his practice is mainly focused on functional objects that attempt to facilitate and enhance experiences from the mundane to the extraordinary. Currently Will works as a full time knife-maker and teaches glassblowing workshops in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana.

Glassblowing

with Ché Rhodes
GLASS 681 002 | 3 credits | $350 Lab Fee
July 21–August 2

This course will cover the fundamentals of glassblowing and is designed to develop a student’s foundational knowledge and skill upon which more advanced ideas can be built. Students will learn to gather hot glass out of the furnace and how to manipulate it with a variety of tools and techniques in both the hot shop and the cold shop. Productive practices including working as a team, timing and choreography, and using natural elements to execute ideas will be demonstrated. This course may include readings from Ed Schmidt’s Beginning Glassblowing and a screening of Glassmakers of Herat. We will investigate glassblowing from a historical approach and look at objects from different periods in history, including works made by Pino Signoretto, Bill Gudenrath, and Karen Willinbrink-Johnsen. Assignments will range from functional cup making, executing complex abstractions, and methods for coloring and patterning. This course will culminate in the completion of a student designed sculpture or installation to be exhibited in the hot shop.

Ché Rhodes (he/him/they) received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his BA from Centre College where he began his career under mentorship of Stephen Rolfe Powell.  Formerly, he was an assistant professor and Head of Glass Art at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Currently he is professor and Head of Glass Art at the University of Louisville, Allen R. Hite Art Institute. He is a former member of the Glass Art Society Board of Directors, and a current member of the Crafting the Future Board of Trustees and the Penland School of Crafts Board of Trustees. Rhodes has demonstrated at the 2006, 2010, and 2015 Glass Art Society Conferences and has taught at the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Urban Glass, Brooklyn, New York; and at Scuola del Vetro: Abate Zanetti, in Venice, Italy. He is a recipient of the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award and is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Speed Museum of Art.

Perfumery and Glass-Cast Vessels

with Emily Endo
GLASS 652 001 | 1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee
August 3–9, 2025

This class will introduce the process of casting hollow-core glass vessels and the fundamentals of fragrance construction. Part one of the class will introduce the process of creating cast glass vessels using an adaptation of the core-forming process. Techniques covered will include basic hollow-core mold making, wax sculpting, and firing schedule development. The second section of the course will guide students through perfume formulation, structure, material families, extraction processes, and blending. Participants will work with aroma molecules and high quality botanical essences. Each student will leave with their own custom blended alcohol based perfume and cast glass vessel. The histories of perfume and glass have been intertwined since their inception in the ancient world. In addition to technical demonstrations, this workshop will explore the historical and conceptual intersections between glass and perfume. The class will discuss contemporary artists who fuse olfaction, glass, and mixed media within their work such as Sissel Tolaas, Katie Paterson, and Candice Lin. Readings and screenings will include excerpts from Fragrant by Mandy Aftel, Ancient Glass by R.A. Grossmann, and Perfume on the Radio by the Institute of Art and Olfaction. Assignments will include sculpting a vessel using shape, color, and ornamentation to reveal or conceal the vessel’s contents and create a perfume that tells a story through its ingredients.

Emily Endo (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Joshua Tree, California. Their practice pulls from the disparate, yet conjoined, histories of science and mysticism. Using glass, organic media, and aroma molecules their work references the transformative relationships between body, material, and space. Within Endo's work, the visual, cultural, kinesthetic, and chemical qualities of materials are considered so that they compliment and contrast one another in harmonious tension. Endo received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2010 and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006. Their work has been exhibited internationally at venues including Somerset House, London; Massey Klein, New York; Marta, Los Angeles; Harkawik, Los Angeles; Neutra VDL House, Los Angeles; LVL3, Chicago; Bullseye Projects, Portland; and the Byre, Latheronwheel, United Kingdom. Recent press includes NY Times, Wallpaper, Architectural Digest, Variable West, Dezeen, Frontrunner Magazine, American Craft Magazine, LVL3, and MAAKE.

Glass-Blown Organics

with Christen Baker
GLASS 691 001 | 3 credits | $350 Lab Fee
August 10–23, 2025

Glass-Blown Organics is an introductory glass course that approaches material investigation and sculpture through a lens of posthumanism. “Posthumanism” refers to a perspective that challenges traditional human-centered views by emphasizing interconnectedness among organisms and complex systems, aiming to disrupt hierarchies and boundaries between humans and other entities. In this course, students will explore three methods of hot glass forming: solid sculpting, glassblowing, and mold blowing with the inclusion of found organic materials. Soil, wood, water, and food are some examples of organic materials that will be used to create glass artworks that speak to the environmental impact of humans in the Anthropocene. Through demonstrations and discussions, students will develop an understanding of sustainable glass practices that can then be applied to their sculptural works. Using these skills and techniques, students will learn to create forms and surfaces that explore glass as a unique material, how glass is deeply significant to place and time, and how to utilize hot glass and organics together to enhance artistic impact. Each component of this course will develop an understanding of material and processes and will facilitate discussions on critical theory, artistic practice, and making with intention. Sculptural works by contemporary glass artists such as Amber Cowan, Sabine Mescher-Leitner, and Kristen Neville Taylor will be important points of consideration. Assignments will explore material inclusions in glass, optics, impressions, and other formal considerations that speak to the environmental impacts of humans in our time. Students will also view selected historical videos from the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass to research the important technological role of glass in our modern world. Students must demonstrate a strong work ethic and a passion for investigating personal artistic strengths and goals throughout this intensive course. Students of all experience levels working with glass are welcome and encouraged.

Christen Baker (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the complex relationships between attention and desire, and the physical and digital economies that emerge from it. Baker earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts in Glass from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where she was awarded the Assistantship for Tyler Information Technology and Digital Services. Baker’s interests have led her to glass, neon, sculpture, photography, and 3D scanning. She has utilized these mediums to create a new visual lexicon that speaks to the ways in which attention and desire shape our perception of material use, physical space, and information hierarchies. Baker has completed residencies and exhibitions at Belger Arts, the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary, UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, and was awarded the Summer Fellowship in Glass at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency. Most recently, she was awarded the Neon as Soulcraft residency in collaboration with SheBends at the Museum of Craft and Design. She currently lives and works in Indianapolis.

Glass Stemware

with Yashodhar Reddy
GLASS 653 001 | 1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee
August 24–30, 2025

This intermediate glassblowing class is for students who desire to learn advanced techniques for incorporating stems and bases into more complex forms, such as nontraditional glasses, candlesticks, and cake platters. We will cover the fundamentals of traditional glassblowing at the furnace. Starting with gathering, we will explore basic forms and shapes for cups, bowls, and accompanying parts, such as stems and feet. This course will primarily focus on the importance of timing and teamwork, both of which are equally important in glassblowing. Our instruction will reference traditional Muranese methods of glassworking, looking at makers such as Davide Fuin, a glass maestro working today, and the works of historical glass manufacturers such as Venini and Barovier & Toso. Assignments will invite students to draft potential table and stemware designs in charcoal or paint and then fabricate selected designs in glass using the techniques and methods covered. The class will culminate in a presentation and critique of final pieces.

Yashodhar Reddy (he/him) is an Indian-American glass artist from Central Pennsylvania. His work focuses on the traditional aspects of glass craft and design from a functional viewpoint. He draws inspiration from the aesthetics of historical glass objects, with the intention of rendering his works with more relevant and personal styles. His education began at Harrisburg Area Community College where he was introduced to the medium and from there continued to travel the world to study with prestigious glass artists such as Raven Skyriver, Kelly O’Dell, Darin Denison, and Davide Fuin. He has worked at design studios such as Niche Modern and AO Glassworks and educational organizations such as the prestigious Corning Museum of Glass, where he has been on the team of many reputable artists such as Swedish maker, Fredrik Nielsen and Head of Glass at SIU, Jiyong Lee. He was previously working at the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist’s Residency as Glass Studio Manager. He is continuing his education, working as an apprentice glassmaker in Venice, Italy for one of the last few living Masters in Murano, Italy.