Pittsburgh Glass Center

About the Pittsburgh Glass Center

The Pittsburgh Glass Center is open to the public. You can walk in right off the street and experience tours and demonstrations during their open hours. There is a friendly, knowledgeable, and experienced staff of artists who will happily show off the building layout and display a rundown of what goes down in the process of making glass art.

PGC also offers a variety of classes available for the public to take, though pre-registration is required for almost all classes, and anyone looking to take a class/workshop at the Center must be 14 years of age or older. The Pittsburgh Glass Center offers 15-minute make-it-now classes, half-day, one-day, and weekend workshops, 4 & 8-week classes along with 1 week-long summer sessions and spring intensives. PGC also emphasizes the ability for younger people to work with glass and learn how to make glass art, so they offer Si02, which is a program designed for young adults that can be taken one day a week or as a 10-12 week after school program. For the 4 & 8 week classes as well as the spring intensives, the Pittsburgh Glass Center offers scholarships based on an online application. For those who want a more personalized experience, one-on-one classes are available. Many of these classes are meant for those who have either limited or no experience with glassworks; however, for those experienced artists who want a more in-depth, specified study, the Glass Center also offers residencies.

Residency tracks offered by the Pittsburgh Glass Center serve as a great way to allow artists to practice their craft. Artist support is offered in the form of stipends, travel expenses and/or housing accommodations for artists to work or create exhibits which are displayed at the Glass Center. Residents of the Glass Center frequently participate in community outreach and educational events, in line with the original mission of the Pittsburgh Glass Center. This mutually beneficial relationship between residents and the community also helps resident artists to bring more to the surrounding community as a whole. Those who may be interested in a residency with the Glass Center can apply on the Pittsburgh Glass Center website.

Neighborhood
Garfield

A Lesser Known Past: The Steel City’s History in Glass Art

The properties of glass are what help to make it so useful for artistry, and despite the similar working conditions for Pittsburgh’s workers who helped to mass produce glass and steel, Pittsburgh is now only referred to as “The Steel City.” Pittsburgh was critical to the production of glass in the United States, and yet this part of the city’s history is much more unknown than the steel industry. Today, towns just outside of the city of Pittsburgh still produce glass, and the steel industry is a mere shadow of what it used to be.

Glass: The Other Story of a Steel City

At the confluence of two rivers, situated in the valley where the land point meets their flow, is a gorgeous skyline more than 200 years in the making.  From a mostly wooden aesthetic in its past, to the brick, glass, and steel of a distinct modern line that is the signature of the The Steel City, the views and spaces are a marvelous display from its many surrounding angles.

From Industry to Art: The Shift in Glass Works

Most individuals know of Pittsburgh to be the “Steel City”, as the city has a long history and pride within their steel roots. However, what most do not know is that before Pittsburgh’s infamous steel industry started, it was actually considered “America’s Glass City” (Pittsburgh Glass Center). The first glass factories in the area were opened in 1797, and after the Civil War, the glass industry in Pittsburgh was at its height (Pittsburgh Glass Center).