Features
Sonoran Glass School
Tucson
by Diane C. Taylor
all photos courtesy of Sonoran Glass School
Tucson
by Diane C. Taylor
all photos courtesy of Sonoran Glass School
Working on a glass pumpkin for pumpkin fest
Recently I spent some time with John-Peter Wilhite and Nick Letson at the Sonoran Glass School, an unassuming group of metal buildings at 633 W. 18th Street in Tucson, Arizona, where a lot of cool glass activities are happening.
DCT: When and how did the Sonoran Glass School start?
John-Peter: The school was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2001, but it actually began in 2000. It was co-founded by two locally known glassblowers here in Tucson, Tom Philabaum and Dave Klein.
DCT: Nonprofit? Where does the school get its funding?
John-Peter: It’s funded through the sale of gallery items made by our instructors, classes, events and memberships. We have a couple of grants for very specific purposes, but they’re not a major source of income. Right now we have about 115 paid members.
DCT: What kind of glass classes do you teach?
John-Peter: Basically, all kinds: we have a hot shop, a warm shop, a flame shop and a complete cold shop. Besides classes, we offer one-on-one instruction and studio rental.
DCT: Hot shop?
John-Peter: When we talk about hot shop and glassblowing, we’re talking about molten glass, at about 2200 degrees. This is the expensive part of our facility: we need a furnace to get the glass hot and keep it that way. The furnace runs 24/7 when we’re teaching. Then we have three “glory holes”, one where the artist gets (“gathers”) molten glass on the end of the preheated blow pipe and two to re-heat the glass and the pipe while a piece is being made. The glass has to be pretty much red hot to be worked, which means working fast and reheating often. We teach the Italian style furnace glassblowing, with classes in making paper weights, bowls, vases and ornaments. We also have a class in sand casting, where we pour molten glass into shapes in specially prepared sand.
DCT: When and how did the Sonoran Glass School start?
John-Peter: The school was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2001, but it actually began in 2000. It was co-founded by two locally known glassblowers here in Tucson, Tom Philabaum and Dave Klein.
DCT: Nonprofit? Where does the school get its funding?
John-Peter: It’s funded through the sale of gallery items made by our instructors, classes, events and memberships. We have a couple of grants for very specific purposes, but they’re not a major source of income. Right now we have about 115 paid members.
DCT: What kind of glass classes do you teach?
John-Peter: Basically, all kinds: we have a hot shop, a warm shop, a flame shop and a complete cold shop. Besides classes, we offer one-on-one instruction and studio rental.
DCT: Hot shop?
John-Peter: When we talk about hot shop and glassblowing, we’re talking about molten glass, at about 2200 degrees. This is the expensive part of our facility: we need a furnace to get the glass hot and keep it that way. The furnace runs 24/7 when we’re teaching. Then we have three “glory holes”, one where the artist gets (“gathers”) molten glass on the end of the preheated blow pipe and two to re-heat the glass and the pipe while a piece is being made. The glass has to be pretty much red hot to be worked, which means working fast and reheating often. We teach the Italian style furnace glassblowing, with classes in making paper weights, bowls, vases and ornaments. We also have a class in sand casting, where we pour molten glass into shapes in specially prepared sand.
Women working on blown glass piece
DCT: This must take a lot of people…
John-Peter: Glassblowing is a team effort. Our facilities manager, William Justiniano, is our lead “hot shop” instructor. Will learned to blow glass in Seattle, where much of glassblowing is now centered, but he’s been with us since the school opened. We’ll close this part down soon for the summer, since it’s just too hot.
DCT: And I see you offer a class especially for women.
John-Peter: We try to offer classes for women only – in all of our shops -- to create a comfortable, creative space for women.
John-Peter: Glassblowing is a team effort. Our facilities manager, William Justiniano, is our lead “hot shop” instructor. Will learned to blow glass in Seattle, where much of glassblowing is now centered, but he’s been with us since the school opened. We’ll close this part down soon for the summer, since it’s just too hot.
DCT: And I see you offer a class especially for women.
John-Peter: We try to offer classes for women only – in all of our shops -- to create a comfortable, creative space for women.
Children watching mesmerized
DCT: You mentioned “warm shop”?
John-Peter: Those are our most popular classes. Warm shop manager Alysa Phiel teaches fusing and slumping, using a variety of kilns, at temperatures up to maybe 1450 degrees, as well as stained glass, mosaics and kiln casting. Alysa, although she’s not that old, has been working with glass for a lot of years. She and her mom owned a shop here, Creations in Glass, and her grandparents once owned Ochoa Glass.
DCT: “Flame shop”?
John-Peter: You may know it as lampworking or torch working. Our flame working shop is getting to be more popular. It’s now managed by Bronwen Heilman (http://bronwenheilman.com/), a nationally known local artist. Students learn to make beads, marbles, pendants, small vessels and other items, manipulating glass rods using a torch.
John-Peter: Those are our most popular classes. Warm shop manager Alysa Phiel teaches fusing and slumping, using a variety of kilns, at temperatures up to maybe 1450 degrees, as well as stained glass, mosaics and kiln casting. Alysa, although she’s not that old, has been working with glass for a lot of years. She and her mom owned a shop here, Creations in Glass, and her grandparents once owned Ochoa Glass.
DCT: “Flame shop”?
John-Peter: You may know it as lampworking or torch working. Our flame working shop is getting to be more popular. It’s now managed by Bronwen Heilman (http://bronwenheilman.com/), a nationally known local artist. Students learn to make beads, marbles, pendants, small vessels and other items, manipulating glass rods using a torch.
Working on fusing project
DCT: Do you have many guest artists and guest instructors?
John-Peter: This is complicated. We find especially that the warm shop students are excited by what Alysa has to offer. For the others, it’s quite expensive to bring people in, with flights, hotels, etc. We have to charge a lot for these classes, and it’s difficult to fill them. That said, we just had a flamework guest, Eunsuh Choi (http://www.choiglass.com/). In the past, we’ve had Bandhu Dunham (http://www.salusaglassworks.com/Welcome.htm), Gil Reynolds (http://www.fusionheadquarters.com/), Mark Abildgaard (http://www.markabildgaard.com/) and others.
DCT: A lot of people still have not heard of Sonoran Glass School…
John-Peter: We’re trying to increase the visibility of our school nationally. Alysa Phiel and Bronwen Heilman had a booth at the GlassCraft and Bead Expo, a huge, five-day event in Las Vegas, this year, and Alysa taught several well-received workshops there. And Nick, our Public Relations person here, was invited to give a talk at the Glass Arts Society meeting in Chicago.
John-Peter: This is complicated. We find especially that the warm shop students are excited by what Alysa has to offer. For the others, it’s quite expensive to bring people in, with flights, hotels, etc. We have to charge a lot for these classes, and it’s difficult to fill them. That said, we just had a flamework guest, Eunsuh Choi (http://www.choiglass.com/). In the past, we’ve had Bandhu Dunham (http://www.salusaglassworks.com/Welcome.htm), Gil Reynolds (http://www.fusionheadquarters.com/), Mark Abildgaard (http://www.markabildgaard.com/) and others.
DCT: A lot of people still have not heard of Sonoran Glass School…
John-Peter: We’re trying to increase the visibility of our school nationally. Alysa Phiel and Bronwen Heilman had a booth at the GlassCraft and Bead Expo, a huge, five-day event in Las Vegas, this year, and Alysa taught several well-received workshops there. And Nick, our Public Relations person here, was invited to give a talk at the Glass Arts Society meeting in Chicago.
Imago Dei students show off logo mosaic
DCT: But locally?
Nick: The Southern Arizona Attraction Alliance has named SGS an official Southern Arizona attraction.
John-Peter: We find that a lot of our students are people who are retired and looking for an artistic outlet. We’re really strong on working with kids, with programs for K-12. We worked on special projects with four schools this year, funded by the grants we have from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. We’re part of a group, including the Tucson Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum and The Drawing Studio, to keep art going since the school systems have cut back so much on funding for it.
This also lets SGS give back to the community and spread awareness of SGS while giving young people a chance to work together on projects, often to beautify their schools. The real problem is that the schools we worked with this year are all within walking distance of SGS, since they also don’t have money for transportation. We hope this will improve when the new streetcar begins running.
Nick: The Southern Arizona Attraction Alliance has named SGS an official Southern Arizona attraction.
John-Peter: We find that a lot of our students are people who are retired and looking for an artistic outlet. We’re really strong on working with kids, with programs for K-12. We worked on special projects with four schools this year, funded by the grants we have from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. We’re part of a group, including the Tucson Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum and The Drawing Studio, to keep art going since the school systems have cut back so much on funding for it.
This also lets SGS give back to the community and spread awareness of SGS while giving young people a chance to work together on projects, often to beautify their schools. The real problem is that the schools we worked with this year are all within walking distance of SGS, since they also don’t have money for transportation. We hope this will improve when the new streetcar begins running.
Mother and child watch glass blowing demo
DCT: What about collaborations with Pima College or the U of A?
John-Peter: We offer semester-long courses in glassblowing through Pima Community College. We also collaborate with the University of Arizona, but mostly through scientific things. We had two of our flame workers recently at Flandrau. Also, a materials science professor and long-time glassblower brings her students here as part of one of her courses. To really understand glass, you need to understand some science, to understand what’s happening within the glass when it’s being heated and cooled and how to create the different colors.
DCT: What do you see in the school’s future?
John-Peter: We’re very involved in buying the property the school is on. We have an agreement with the City of Tucson to do this, but we’re waiting to finalize the details. This will let us make improvements to the school, and that will open some doors.
For more on the Sonoran Glass School, check out www.sonoranglass.org .
John-Peter: We offer semester-long courses in glassblowing through Pima Community College. We also collaborate with the University of Arizona, but mostly through scientific things. We had two of our flame workers recently at Flandrau. Also, a materials science professor and long-time glassblower brings her students here as part of one of her courses. To really understand glass, you need to understand some science, to understand what’s happening within the glass when it’s being heated and cooled and how to create the different colors.
DCT: What do you see in the school’s future?
John-Peter: We’re very involved in buying the property the school is on. We have an agreement with the City of Tucson to do this, but we’re waiting to finalize the details. This will let us make improvements to the school, and that will open some doors.
For more on the Sonoran Glass School, check out www.sonoranglass.org .
