Pilchuck Glass School is an international center for
glass art
Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including gl ...
education. The school was founded in 1971 by
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly ( ; born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of Glassblowing, blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture".
Early life
Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on ...
, Ruth Tamura,
Anne Gould Hauberg
Anne Gould Hauberg (November 13, 1917 – April 11, 2016) was an American civic activist, philanthropist, and patroness of the arts.
Annie Laurie Westbrook Gould (she later changed this to Anne Westbrook Gould) was the daughter of Seattle archite ...
(1917-2016), and John H. Hauberg (1916-2002). The campus is located on a former
tree farm
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated Plant stem, stem, or trunk (botany), trunk, usually supporting Branch, branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only Bark (botan ...
in
Stanwood, Washington
Stanwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city is located north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River near Camano Island. As of the 2020 United States ...
, in the United States. The administrative offices are located in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. 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-, or three-week resident classes each summer in a broad spectrum of glass techniques. They also offer residencies for emerging and established artists working in all
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
.
History
Dale Chihuly, then the head of the glass program at
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...
, and Ruth Tamura, who ran the glass blowing program at California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC, now
California College of the Arts
The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...
) applied early in 1971 for a grant from the Union of Independent Colleges of Art to operate a summer workshop in the medium of glass. 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 was born in
Tacoma
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...
), Chihuly distributed posters advertising "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 and Tamura were introduced to John Hauberg and his wife
Anne Gould Hauberg
Anne Gould Hauberg (November 13, 1917 – April 11, 2016) was an American civic activist, philanthropist, and patroness of the arts.
Annie Laurie Westbrook Gould (she later changed this to Anne Westbrook Gould) was the daughter of Seattle archite ...
. Hauberg offered Chihuly the use of property he owned an hour north of Seattle. The workshop was held there and in time this became the location of the Pilchuck Glass School.
In 1971, the first workshop began with little time for advance preparation of the site. Chihuly and Tamura, along with two other teachers and 18 students, pitched surplus tents, made a makeshift lean-to with toilets and showers, and built a hot shop with glass furnaces (and a roof of sewn-together surplus tents). They began blowing glass just sixteen days after arriving at the Hauberg's tree farm. Some of the glass that was blown was sold at a craft fair in
Anacortes
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Thomas Bosworth (who also served as the School's Director for several years). Thomas designed the Hot Shop for the kiln area (1973), Flat Shop for smaller scaled glass crafts (1976), Lodge (1977), faculty cottages, bathhouse, and other buildings; by 1986 there were fifteen structures on the site.
Campus
The Pilchuck Glass School is located on a rural campus, part of a
tree farm
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated Plant stem, stem, or trunk (botany), trunk, usually supporting Branch, branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only Bark (botan ...
, located northeast of
Stanwood, Washington
Stanwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city is located north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River near Camano Island. As of the 2020 United States ...
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 (typically ten to twelve students) 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
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
, hot-glass sculpting, sand- and kiln-casting, fusing, neon, stained glass, imagery transfer on glass, flameworking, mixed-media sculpture, and
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
. 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 and gaffers to simply work on their art throughout the year using Pilchuck's facilities. Several residency programs are available by application, and some others are available by invitation only.
Some of Pilchuck's residency offers vary from year to year, and each one often targets a different group of artists. For example, the Emerging Artist In Residence Program is advertised for artists who are just beginning a professional career. Their recurring John H. Hauberg Fellowship has repeatedly looked for artists who are already well established in their professional careers. Their Better Together Annual Residency looks for professional
BIPOC
The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...
Cynthia Lahti
Cynthia Lahti (born 1963) is an American contemporary artist from Portland, Oregon, who works in many mediums: "from collage to ceramics, altered books, and painting".
Early life and education
Lahti was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. She at ...
David Patchen
David Scott Patchen (born ) is an American glass artist who uses the techniques of cane and murrine in an American style.
Early life and education
David Scott Patchen was born in in New Rochelle, New York.
He is primarily self-taught since ...