How would you explain your organization in 300 words or less?
The Crefeld Glass Studio has been a part of the rich culture of the Philadelphia glass art scene since 1995. It’s a full service hot glass studio, offering facilities for Glassblowing, Flameworking, and Casting.Our studio is quite unique. During the school day, it is part of the arts department of The Crefeld School, giving Crefeld’s 7th-12th grade students a rare opportunity to work with glass and gain valuable teamwork experience while also building confidence in oneself. During evenings and weekends, the studio is open to the greater Philadelphia community, offering public classes and lessons for teenagers and adults.
How did this program begin?
In 1995, an art teacher at Crefeld, who had attended Tyler School of Art as a Glass Major, built a small studio in a spare storage space at Crefeld. Over the years it grew into a full-fledged program and larger studio facility.
What is unique about the community you serve?
Crefeld is unique in that our primary mission is to serve 7th-12th grade students within The Crefeld School. We are proud to bring glass art to students who are from backgrounds that are under-represented in the glass community: children and teens, girls and women, people of color, people who couldn’t otherwise afford to take glass classes.
How are you keeping your program financially sustainable & what strategies do you recommend?
We offer a robust public class and lesson program, as well as studio rentals, to bring more affordable glass art education to the people of greater Philadelphia, as well as to offset the cost of operating the studio as part of our school day program. We are a nonprofit, so we price public classes and lessons to be as accessible as possible, while covering our costs.
What impact are you seeing & how do you measure success?
One of the most rewarding aspects of our program is when we get kids who typically aren’t interested in art, but are intrigued to try glassblowing because of the more physical and practical nature of it, and then get really invested in glassblowing as an art form. It acts as an entry point to the art world for students who might otherwise view art as elitist and not for them.
We measure success by the student engagement we see with both our day students and the public.
How has the outbreak of COVID-19 impacted your program, if at all?
We had to shut down the hot shop and public classes and lessons for a year and a half. Vaccines and adaptive equipment has now allowed us to reopen and blow glass without using breath. It’s been an adjustment, but we’ve found the kids were able to adapt right away, while the adults took a little longer 🙂