Pilchuck Glass School


Pilchuck Glass School is an international center for glass art education. The school was founded in 1971 by Dale Chihuly, Anne Gould Hauberg and John H. Hauberg. The campus is located on a former tree farm in Stanwood, Washington, United States and the administrative offices are located in Seattle. The name "Pilchuck" comes from the local Native American language and translates to "red water", in reference to the Pilchuck River. Pilchuck offers one-, two- and three-week resident classes each summer in a broad spectrum of glass techniques as well as residencies for emerging and established artists working in all media.

History

Dale Chihuly, then head of the glass program at Rhode Island School of Design and Ruth Tamura, who ran the glass program at California College of Arts and Crafts applied early in 1971 for a grant from the Union of Independent Colleges of Art to operate a summer workshop in glass, and in late spring the sum of $2,000 had been awarded.
From the outset, this was planned as an unusual kind of workshop. Without yet having a site, but knowing he wanted to be somewhere in the Seattle area, Chihuly distributed advertising posters for "the no deposit lots of returns glass etc. workshop. Free tuition --- you provide food and camping equipment." Sketches of lakes and forests and camping decorated the posters.
Through friends and contacts in the Seattle area, Chihuly was introduced to John Hauberg and his wife Anne Gould Hauberg. Hauberg offered Chihuly the use of a site on property he owned an hour north of Seattle. The workshop was held here, and in time this became the location of the Pilchuck Glass School.
The first workshop, in 1971, began with little time for advance preparation of the site. Chihuly, with two other teachers and 18 students, pitched surplus tents, made a makeshift lean-to with toilets and showers, built a hot shop with glass furnaces, and, just sixteen days after arriving at the Hauberg's tree farm, began blowing glass. Some of the glass that was blown was sold at a craft fair in Anacortes, nearby, and after that sale was well-received the group held an open house on the site and sold more, the proceeds being used to pay for the propane they used. Even so, Chihuly spent far more than the $2,000 grant, and ran up a considerable debt. John Hauberg, buoyed by the success of that first summer, paid off the bank loan and agreed to provide the location and financial support for a second summer workshop, and then a third. A few years later, realizing that Pilchuck glass workshops had become a summer mainstay rather than an occasional happening, the Haubergs established the school as a non-profit, solidifying the framework for today's Pilchuck Glass School.
In the first years, facilities were primitive, but over time a campus was developed with a series of rustic structures, designed by Thomas Bosworth, including the Hot Shop for the kiln area, Flat Shop for smaller scaled glass crafts, Lodge, faculty cottages, bathhouse and other buildings; by 1986 there were fifteen structures on the site.

Mission

Pilchuck's mission statement says that it "fosters and educates a worldwide community that explores the creative use of glass in art and design."

Campus

The Pilchuck Glass School is located on a rural campus, part of a tree farm, located northeast of Stanwood, Washington and more than north of Seattle. The campus has more than 60 buildings, including workshops and living quarters.

Summer Education Program

Offering programs throughout the year, Pilchuck Glass School's most concentrated activities occur from late May through early September when there are consecutive educational sessions, varying from one to three weeks in length, and offering several concurrent hands-on courses exploring different aspects of creating art in glass. Designed for the uninitiated, the intermediate, or the advanced student seeking skills and conceptual challenges with glass, courses are limited in size and highlight a focused inquiry into glassmaking techniques and aesthetic directions.
Students explore the creative possibilities of hot and cold glass in such areas as glassblowing, hot-glass sculpting, sand- and kiln-casting, fusing, neon, stained glass, imagery transfer on glass, flameworking, mixed-media sculpture, and engraving. Although enrolled in only one course in a session, students find additional creative resources among other students, instructors, artists in residence, gaffers and staff.

Artist Residencies

In addition to summer workshops, Pilchuck also offers residencies for artists of all levels to simply work on their art throughout the year. Resident artists employ Pilchuck's studios and environment to experiment, innovate and create new bodies of work.
Summer Artists in Residence- Established, visual artists are invited to reside on campus for a 17-day session. They become a stimulating force in the educational program, adding insight and experience from different disciplines.
Professional Artists in Residence- Residencies of varying duration throughout the fall, winter and spring allow independent artists of outstanding accomplishment to create in Pilchuck's studios.
John H. Hauberg Fellowship- This spring residency for up to six outstanding artists in any medium fosters collaboration in support of new work or new research.
Emerging Artists in Residence- This fall program is designed for a group of six artists in the early stages of their careers who need financial support, time and a place to develop individual bodies of work with glass as a focus.

Faculty