Become a Pilchuck Magic Maker
Become a Pilchuck Magic Maker
First 100 to join receive a limited-edition tote
Participants may select one workshop per session, during which they will be fully immersed in a vibrant educational environment on the breathtaking Pilchuck campus for the duration of the session. All participants eat, work, and sleep on campus for the entire session. Days include intensive instruction and demos throughout the day and evening, as well as ample opportunities for personal exploration and studio time. Housing is warm and rustic and most accommodations require a brief walk through fields and forest to reach the studios.
Bring your ideas to this foundation-level glassblowing class. The fundamentals of the craft—gathering, marvering, turning, and teamwork—will be approached through exercises, culminating in self-directed projects. Students will work together to realize each other’s vision. There will be plenty of hands-on instruction and collaboration while also leaving room for play, a critical component of creativity.
Montessori concepts such as Practical, Sensorial, and Cultural will serve as a lens through which glass is explored as a sculptural material. Specific exercises will be assigned, initially, when new techniques and tools are introduced. Otherwise, students will work on their own self-directed projects. We will be working in the hot shop: blowing and casting; the kiln shop (studio building): slumping and fusing; the cold shop; and a brief time in the Bot Lab.
This workshop will focus on the foundations of glassblowing, leading into color experimentation and the use of handmade blow molds. An emphasis will be placed on proper body mechanics, best practices, and communication in the hot shop to create a safe, shared, and collaborative space. Students will be introduced to two-part plaster blow molds and learn proper bubble set-up for successful outcomes.
In this workshop, students will use a combination of kiln-casting, kiln-forming, cold-working and construction techniques, exploring and developing a sculptural and narrative dialogue of glass through, and in combination with, found and personal objects, materials, and textures. Students will develop and bring their own ‘vocabulary’ to the creative process, culminating in both their own individual pieces and a collaborative project. We will explore methods of model construction, simple rubber molds to create multiples, open face molds and lost wax processes. Demonstrations, discussions, troubleshooting, experimentation and play provide the space for learning kiln glass fundamentals.
In this course, students will learn how to use borosilicate glass to create functional glass pipes at the torch. Through demonstrations and hands-on-experience, students will gain the solid foundation of skills needed to make their own functional pipes, covering everything from a basic one-hitter to complex multi-sectional pieces. Students will learn shaping, color techniques, proper seals, and fuming. Bring your ideas and let's have some fun!
Eleanor Anderson (b. 1988) received a BA from Colorado College and an MFA from the Fibers Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art (’22). Anderson works using a broad range of media including textiles, ceramics, prints and collage. A former Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts, she has completed residencies at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, The Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, The Tides Institute, Eastport ME, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME and Praxis Fiber Studio, Cleveland OH. She has taught workshops at Penland, Pocosin School of Crafts, as well as been a visiting professor at Colorado College, the Cleveland Institute of Art and College for Creative Studies in Detroit. In 2021 she was awarded the Outstanding Student Award from the Surface Design Association. She currently bases her studio in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Every summer since 1971 the glass world has come together for innovative and rigorous workshops with an international cohort of instructors and artists. In 2025 we will host seven sessions.
The summer is filled with an all-star roster including Jen Elek, Annette Blair, Ben Edols, Jessica Loughlin, Sibelly, Danny Coyle, Dante Marioni and more. An advanced topics Spring Session will include an opportunity to be a part of Pilchuck history by rebuilding one of the program furnaces with Fred Metz. Session 3 will see the return of lampworking maestro Lucio Bubacco for a 30-year reunion of his Flame to Furnace collaboration with Brian Kerkvliet and Ed Schmid. Preston Singletary and Martin Janecký will bring their combined approach to Session 4. Silvia Levenson returns during Session 5, Pilchuck’s first bi-lingual (Spanish/English) session.
Join us for another transformative year on the hill.
.jpg)
.jpg)