Downtown Black Mountain, NC is brimming with colorful art, murals, and statues around town and in 2024 will be the home of the NC Glass Center’s second location.
The NC Glass center coming to Black Mountain, will feature a state-of-the-art hot shop, flame shop, and gallery all in the heart of this scenic and charming town in North Carolina.
The NC Glass Center is a non-profit, public-access glass studio and gallery that is dedicated to education, exploration, and collaboration in all forms of glass. So, what does this mean for the Black Mountain community?
- They provide low-cost shared studios to help emerging artists launch their careers
- Their furnaces, torches, and kilns enable established glass artists to pursue new and ambitious challenges
- The gallery showcases the finest work from undiscovered to established glass artists in Western North Carolina
- Educational programs provide thousands of aspiring glass artist high-quality quality, affordable instruction.
- And their community outreach programs provide safe spaces for veterans and low-income youth to learn the science and art of glass. These classes help participants express themselves in a positive, non-verbal manner while also building confidence and healthy coping skills.
We had an opportunity to tour the original NC Glass Center location in Asheville this week and were literally “blown” away, pun intended by the talent and beautiful craftsmanship that goes into every piece. Being able to watch artisans who were working in the studio, really gives you an appreciation for the final product and the level of skill required.
Glassblowing and lampworking are the most common glassworking techniques used today. The glassblowers work on a large scale, using ovens, blowpipes, and enough glass to make vessels, sculptures, and just about anything you can imagine. Lampworking is generally done on a smaller scale using colorful glass and torches to make delicate items like beads and figurines.
Next time you look at a piece of handmade glass remember there are years of training, developing, and broken pieces that went into the final product you see today.
Be sure to check out their VERY GLASSY HOLIDAY MARKET coming later this month and running thru the end of the year. Your purchase will support the nonprofit glass center and local artists while proving a truly unique and one-of-a-kind gift.
Check out more about the NC Glass Center and upcoming events at: https://www.ncglasscenter.org/
A few fun facts:
Did you know that Glassblowers living and working in the colony of Jamestown in the early 17th century worked glass in much the same way as local artisans do today? Glass was heated in furnaces and gathered on blowpipes to be worked. Glassblowers used tools, gravity, and air to form the glass into the desired shape and cooled the glass in an annealing oven. Very similar to the process today, so, when you watch a glassblower work in modern times, what you are really seeing is continuity in the art form from the 1700s.
Did you know that Western North Carolina’s place in the art glass movement goes back to the 1970s and counts Mark Peiser, Harvey Littleton, Richard Ritter, Billy Bernstein, Gary Beecham, Rick Beck, Kate Vogel, John Littleton, and Rob Levin among the talented and innovative artists who have called the region home?
Did you know that the glass worked by glassblowers is over 2,000°F? This is the same temperature as lava from a volcano! Glassblowers take precautions from the intense heat of glass by wearing protective eyewear and prioritizing safety guidelines each time they go to work.
The current mural in Black Mountain foretelling what’s to come is by Nat Flower a student at Warren Wilson College. What a talented young artist!
