Mrs. Elizabeth Goodman and Mrs. Denise Puskar recently took the art council to the Pittsburgh Glass Center. These students got to see a demonstration of how glass is blown, shaped, textured, colored, and cooled into a bowl. The Glass Center offered two workshops for the students to participate in while they were there, including creating sun catchers and hanging ornaments.

“The people working there are very passionate about what they do,” Mrs. Goodman said.

The Pittsburgh Glass Center is a “nonprofit, public access school, gallery and state-of-the-art glass studio dedicated to teaching, creating, and promoting glass art.”

Sophomore Cassie Shively said that her experience was interesting. “I’m not into glass blowing, but it blew my mind. I would love to go again.”

There are also four different workshops to satisfy a variety of glass mediums; these four shops include the Hot, Flame, Kiln, and Cold Shop. The Hodge Gallery is another exhibit the students explored, showcasing many demonstrations of structural pieces crafted with glass. This gallery demonstrates how glass is used to interpret different artistic techniques and how unique and complex that is.

“I picked the glass center because we don’t have the ability to work with glass at school,” Mrs. Goodman said. “Students worked hands on with very old techniques they’ve never seen. Blowing glass was overwhelming to some, but the results were fascinating.”

Senior Art Council member Alex Busato said the trip was “an experience that I’ve always wanted to do since I was a kid. It was really cool to see the process, be part of it, and get something out of it.”