Glass Workshops at Penland
Penland offers 1 to 8-week workshops taught by visiting instructors in our well-equipped studios. Class topics include glass blowing, flameworking, glass sculpture, cold working, casting, fusing, and more. Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
Register for Workshops
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
Summer scholarship information; summer scholarship application deadline is February 15.
Please read this note about our session schedules.
GLASS FALL CONCENTRATION
October 1 – November 10, 2023 (six weeks)
Dan Friday
Furnace Formed
This workshop will break down the essentials of glass blowing and off-hand glass sculpting. We’ll work in the hot and cold shops and cover the fundamentals of bubble setup, using hand tools, and how to make the heat work for you. Other techniques will include optical molds, bit work, cane/murrine, and other methods of color application. When using the garage and components, time management and teamwork are crucial to productivity and will be underlying focal points of the workshop. Students will work from sketchbooks and learn to navigate from paper to blowpipe. Both experimentation and repetition will be encouraged. Our goal is to use technical processes to help you find your voice within the medium. All levels. Hot glass studio.
Studio artist; teaching: University of Washington, Evergreen State College (WA), Pilchuck (WA), Haystack (ME); residencies: Museum of Glass (WA), Burke Museum (Seattle), Corning Museum (NY), Dream Community (Taiwan); Bill Holm Grant from Burke Museum (Seattle), People’s Choice Award from Bellevue Arts Museum (WA), Artist Trust Fellowship (WA), Discover Fellowship through the Southwest Association for Indian Arts (NM), contestant on Netflix’s Blown Away; representation; Blue Rain Gallery (NM), Stonington Gallery (Seattle), Ainsley Gallery (Toronto), Habatat Galleries (FL).
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
GLASS FALL WEEKEND SESSION
October 20–22, 2023
Linda Sacra
Beads: Out of Round
Complete beginners and experienced flameworkers can explore the endless possibilities of bead making in this workshop: from one-color to multicolor, from round to asymmetric. After brief demonstrations, students will light the torches and make their own unique beads using soft glass and a variety of tools, stringers, and frits. The torch will ignite your creativity, and you’ll see that the best beads aren’t necessarily round. All levels. Flameworking studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Penland, workshops in her home studio; represented in galleries in the southeast including Sandpiper Gallery (SC) and Island Jewelers (NC).
Enrollment for this workshop will begin on May 1.
Glass Spring Concentration
March 3 – April 26, 2024 (8 Weeks)
Granite Calimpong
Building a Strong Foundation
This workshop is about exploring functional forms as you build a strong foundation of fundamental glassblowing skills. Starting with simple drinking vessels, we’ll cover gathering, marvering, working on center, body position, and movement through the shop. From there we’ll move on to bowls, plates, vases, and other more challenging forms and work through more advanced techniques, including optic molds, color applications, bit work, and handles. This workshop will be about steady improvement that will enable you to produce functional objects for use and enjoyment. All levels. Hot glass studio.
Studio artist; teaching: University of Washington, Pilchuck (WA), Haystack (ME), Penland, Pittsburgh Glass Center; recent exhibitions: Traver Gallery (Seattle); The Jam Factory (Australia); residencies: Museum of Glass (WA), Pilchuck (WA), Northlands Creative Glass (Scotland), Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pottery Northwest (Seattle).
Scholarship application deadline is August 15.
Regular enrollment begins October 2.
Glass – Spring Short Session
April 28 – May 3, 2024 (4 studio days)
Wesley Fleming and Emilio Santini
Bugs, Figures, Plants, and Beyond
Using soft glass, you will learn through demonstration, discussion, and practice to sculpt at the torch using the “Italian Technique.” We’ll show you how to create bugs, flowers, bodies, and fantastical objects without continuously reheating finished parts of the object, working from one side of your creation to the other as it cools. You will learn how to prepare components and assemble them cold in the flame without cracking. We’ll cover heat control, shaping, fine details, and proper annealing as we work through the meditative process that is flameworking. All levels. Flameworking studio.
Wesley: Studio artist; teaching: The Studio at Corning (NY), Kobe Lampwork Museum (Japan), Penland, Snow Farm (MA); collections: Corning Museum (NY), Racine Art Museum (WI), Tacoma Museum of Glass (WA); publications: American Art Collector, Make, numerous glass magazines, several Schiffer books.
wesleyfleming.com | @vetropod
Emilio: studio artist from a Venetian family with more than 500 years of glassblowing tradition; teaching: Pilchuck (WA), The Studio at Corning (NY), Pittsburgh Glass Center, Penland, Virginia Commonwealth University; collections: Corning Museum (NY), Ca’Pesaro Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Venice), Sheffield Museum (England), Chrysler Museum (VA).
santiniemilio.com | @emilio.santini.art.and.design
Scholarship application deadline is August 15.
Regular enrollment begins October 2.
