.png)
Tulsa Glassblowing School
W O R K S H O P S
Summer Workshops
TGS is excited to host our fourth Summer Program in 2024. Our goal is to enrich our community by creating greater access to craft learning in the region by bringing internationally recognized artists to teach one week intensive workshops. Make the most of your summer in 2024 and come take a class at TGS. Applications for priority placement and scholarships will open in November 15th.
Residency Program
This residency program invites the instructors who are teaching workshops at TGS to continue working in our studio for an additional three days following their workshop. Instructors are given full access to the studio and help from the TGS staff to create work and to continue the creative atmosphere by sharing their professional practice with the community. Students of the workshop are welcome to stay in Tulsa following their workshop and continue to learn by watching their instructor continue to work in a professional environment.
2024 Summer Program
Session 1
Ché Rhodes
Workshop: May 16 - 22
Residency: May 23 - 25
SiO2 and You
In this workshop we will focus on the fundamentals of how glass works and behaves as both a substance and as a material- and how we, as makers work with the glass. Students will work on developing their understanding of glass and glass processes in an effort to expand and refine their approach to working in the hotshop. As a class we will concentrate on understanding the physics and chemistry of glass while simultaneously refining hand-skills and developing good hotshop habits. This workshop will emphasize very broad and fundamental concepts relating to working more efficiently (hotter and faster) in the hoptshop, while also delving into the fascinating and infinite details, finer points, and history of glassmaking processes and tools. Students will be encouraged to understand glass from a conventional perspective while developing a more experimental approach.
Intermediate
Artist bio
Ché Rhodes received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. from Centre College where he began his career under the mentorship of Stephen Rolfe Powell. Formerly, he was an assistant professor and Head of Glass Art at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Currently he is an Associate Professor and Head of Studio Glass at the University of Louisville, Allen R. Hite Art Institute. He is a former member of the Glass Art Society Board of Directors, and a current member of the Crafting the Future Board of Trustees and the Penland School of Crafts Board of Trustees. Rhodes has demonstrated at the 2006, 2010, and 2015 Glass Art Society Conferences and has been an instructor at the Penland School of Crafts, Penland North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood Washington; The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Urban Glass, Brooklyn, New York, and at Scuola del Vetro: Abate Zanetti, in Venice Italy. He is a recipient of the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award and this work is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as the Speed Museum of Art.
Session 2
Kelly O'Dell
Workshop: June16 - 22
Artist Residency: June 23 - 25
The Nature of Sculpture
Take a closer look at nature’s design to find inspiration. In this class, students will strive to capture the essence of the natural world in blown and hot-sculpted forms by using traditional and unconventional techniques to create texture, color, and pattern. Using the garage and hot torches extensively, the class will work in teams to assemble complex forms. Students will work ergonomically, team problem-solve, and refine skills while creating with intention!
Intermediate/Advanced
Artist bio
Kelly O’Dell was born in Seattle in 1973, raised in Hawai’i, and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. When she was very young, her parents were glass artists. While seeking her college education years later, Kelly discovered glass as her primary focus at the University of Hawai’i. The program offered her many opportunities to study at Pilchuck Glass School, where she eventually joined the William Morris Winter Crew. She and Her husband Raven Skyriver recently built their own glass studio at their home on Lopez Island, WA. Kelly’s work mainly explores themes of extinction, preservation, and human impact on the natural world.
Session 3
Dan Mirer
Workshop: July 21 - 27
Artist Residency: July 28 - 30
Drinkware: Tips and Sips
This class will explore the design and making of beverage-specific glassware. Discover how the subtle nuances of shape, proportion, and size can influence the sensory experience. Demonstrations will cover a variety of forms incuding tumblers, mugs, and stemware utilizing free-blowing and mold blowing techniques. We will embrace elements from the Venetian, Scaninavian, and Bohemian traditions and use these as a vocabulary to create unique designs.
Intermediate/Advanced
Artist bio
Dan Mirer began his educations at age 16, attending the Rochester Institute of Technology (AAS). He continued to study glass at Alfred University (BFA), the Pukeberge School of Design, Sweden, and Tyler School of Art (MFA).
Based in Corning, NY, Dan has been an independent artist and designer since 2004. He creates a range of work including tableware, sculpture, and video.
Over the years, he has been involved with the Corning Museum of Glass; in its hot glass programs as well as The Studio's artist in residence program. He has taught at Alfred University, Tyler School of Art, Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Corning Museum of Glass.