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.
We will explore fundamental stained glass techniques from painting on glass, sandblasting, staining, cutting and leading. Students will then learn contemporary techniques, such as collage, lamination and fusing, and then go beyond by incorporating hot glass casting and more. Stained glass relies on collaboration and this class will reflect that: students will have the opportunity to produce their own panels, but will also work together on a collaborative project.
This Class will be an exploration in glass sculpture with a strong emphasis on teamwork. We will practice close observation of the natural world, and the objects around us, and then render them in glass, employing all of the techniques and tools at our disposal. Utilizing the hot torch, garage, color application, and our insatiable curiosity we will achieve textures and forms that mimic our objects of inspiration. If you have glass blowing experience, but haven't done much sculpture, or if you love to sculpt, but want to hone your skills, this class is for you.
This workshop will teach you the art of reverse signwriting, where our knowledge will cover ALL of the required disciplines to execute an authentic “Victorian” reverse glass sign. This course will be suitable for students ranging from beginner to intermediate levels. Techniques that will be taught by both instructors will include water gilding, sign writing, oil gilding, directional burnishing, brush blending, acid etching, brilliant cutting, and silvering. You will go home with several glass signs, some of which will be a panel designed by Dave and Eddy, and we encourage students to create their own styles too.
Express your story through the Swedish Graal technique. This course is for experienced glassblowers who want to explore narrative expression through one of Sweden’s most iconic techniques, Graal. Peter & Bjørn will teach you the full process: creating a Swedish overlay working with traditional graal tools, understanding color chemistry, and making your own “Graal blank.” You'll be guided through engraving, sandblasting and finally bring your piece to life in the hot shop. With thematic support and visual inspiration, you'll craft a personal story and translate it into layered imagery within glass.
This hands-on neon workshop introduces the fundamentals of tube bending and illumination, serving as a starting point for exploring the aesthetic and conceptual possibilities of light in mixed-media art. Students will be encouraged to create experimental works that push beyond traditional signage, emphasizing the tension, contrast, and resonance between neon and other materials. Through this exploration, we will consider how meaning is shaped not just by what is said, but by the materials and methods used to say it.
Amir H. Fallah (b. 1979, Tehran, Iran; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received his BFA in Fine Art & Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and his MFA in painting at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad.
Koak (b.1981) is a San Francisco-based artist whose work explores the complexities of identity, femininity, and emotional interiority through a mastery of line across drawing, painting, and sculpture. Rendered with exquisite technique and effortless mark-making, her emotionally charged figures and landscapes are imbued with a compelling sense of agency and inner life. Recent distinctions include the Fleishhacker Foundation’s Eureka Fellowship (2020) and her first UK institutional solo exhibition, The Window Set, at Charleston, Lewes (2025).
Sarah Gilbert has worked as part of the hot shop team at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma for the last 18 years. She continues to be fascinated by glass as a material and what it can do. While her personal work is primarily focused on carving and engraving glass she loves the challenge of working for other artists to realize their vision.
Jen Elek is a studio artist educator based in Seattle WA.Elek creates objects and installations made of blown glass, neon and steel. Jen exhibits her work internationally and has taught glassblowing workshops at Corning Museum of Glass Studio NY, Penland school of Crafts NC, Urban glass NY, The Jam Factory AUS. Jen and her husband Jeremy Bert recently completed a large commission for the Port of Seattle at SEATAC artist-in-residenceport.
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.