BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG
Glass art is kind of a big deal in Tacoma, if you haven’t noticed.
Two engines that continue to foster this challenging art form are the Museum of Glass (MOG) and Hilltop Artists, a nonprofit “using glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to better futures.”
Just to help you understand exactly how big a deal Hilltop Artists is, it has been around for more than 30 years. In just the last year, 770 young people participated in its programs.
It is also the only group with a standing annual residency at the live glassblowing demonstration studio called the Hot Shop in the Museum of Glass.
This residency is now in its 13th year. From August 12 through 16, production students spun, stretched, fused, melted, and blew glass into complex and creative designs that they had spent months planning.
Production students are typically between the ages of 14 and 18 and have been working with production managers Zane Scott and Luis Sanchez on preparing for the residency since spring.
Each day focused on a different glass technique. First there was fusing, then a day of goblets and Venetian-style glass art. Then, of course, came incalmo and cane and murrine, and the whole saga wrapped up with a day of sculpture creation.
For the past decade, students have created centerpieces for the organization’s annual fundraising luncheon along a certain theme.
This year, leaders at Hilltop Artists decided to open up the parameters and give students the opportunity to learn techniques and create complex pieces that they don’t typically have the leeway to try.
While this approach was “a lot more work” for the production managers, Deputy Director of Hilltop Artists Katy Evans said, “It was really exciting to see that real, tangible manifestation of the youth voice” through their unique creations.
Not only were students doing much more complex projects than they were used to and learning new techniques, but they were also doing so with a live audience in person and via livestream.
Despite all this pressure, the very nature of learning to work with glass is like a boot camp in having a growth mindset. In other words, it is impossible to do without getting used to failure.
“We talk about this all the time because, like, I didn’t grow up with any of this kind of training,” Evans said. Her mindset growing up was that she was only good at certain things and that anything outside of that was to be avoided.
At Hilltop Artists, however, the mindset of the students is “like the complete opposite of that.”
“When they realize that a flaw happened or that they didn’t quite nail that technique in order to make the piece come together . . . sometimes there’s some stress, but they treat it like a learning opportunity,” Evans said.
This resiliency is developed over time through the program, along with other skills involving communication, teamwork, and self-confidence. Many of the students first started working with glass in middle school, and staff at Hilltop Artists say it is incredible to see how much they grow.
“You’re learning that failure and resiliency in a very high-stakes, kind of dangerous environment, and I think that that really gives a lot of focus when middle schoolers really don’t have it on their own otherwise,” engagement and communications manager Charlotte Berry told the Weekly Volcano.
Being in that environment really forces the middle school students to “understand not only what [their] capabilities are . . . but also keep in mind the safety of the rest of [their] team too. And so I think that having that need for constant communication really keeps those skills growing and growing, which is really incredible to see,” Charlotte said.
Building resilience also helps them gain confidence because they are not afraid of failure.
When they enter the program as middle schoolers, they also often “start off tentative, making teeny little things” and then “two, three, four years later . . . they’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s make a six-foot-tall murrine thing using glass, and we’ll just do it, and it’ll be great,’” Charlotte said.
This earned confidence was on full display during the MOG residency, as you can see for yourself if you watch the livestreams on its YouTube page.
From a large, purple, translucent bear holding a pink fish in its mouth that took more than five hours to a goblet with a woodpecker at its base and colorful vases and creative sculptures, the production students created a wide variety of unique pieces.
While the production students were leading the show, working with glass is a team sport, and staff from the Museum of Glass and Hilltop Artists alumni all collaborated throughout each day.
The setup featured a central bench where Museum of Glass staff would gaff the pieces and two other stations that stayed busy all day as well.
“As the week progressed, on either side, our students just kept practicing the techniques that they had already learned with the team earlier,” Evans said. They were so passionate about getting the techniques down that Evans described how “basically by Sunday, there were these kids who are just, like, rabid about figuring out how to complete a goblet.”
For those curious to see these incredible creations, they will all be available to view online when the annual online auction preview opens on September 24.
October will also be a busy month for Hilltop Artists, with plenty of opportunities for the public to see art by these young artists and to support their work. The Better Futures Luncheon is coming up on October 6 at Hotel Murano, and on October 18, you can stop by to see them in action during the Tacoma Arts Month Open Studio Tours & REFRACT Festival Demonstration.
Learn more about Hilltop Artists at https://www.hilltopartists.org/.
