One half of Kirkwood Community College’s Introduction to Glass students have already completed their work creating blown forms this semester. The class is one of many offered in this specialized medium and a required prerequisite for further advancement as a glass artist at Kirkwood.
Although this semester saw a decline in the number and diversity of glass courses, the advanced courses in blown glass, Hot Glass I and II, are expected to return in the fall semester.
Both of these courses are open to all students. The hot glass studio is a unique space that demands collaboration and meticulous attention to safety. Students grow not only their technical skills and understanding of glass as a material but also gain a valuable opportunity to share this experience and improve their peer communication skills by working in pairs.
Introduction to Glass has historically been very popular and well-received by students, consistently attracting full classes and often a waitlist.
“Each student gets the opportunity to take ownership of the experience in this class and define it for themselves,” said Christopher Grey, professor of glass and sculpture. “We’re all trying to get to the same place from different directions.”
“Blowing glass was a fun break from my nursing classes each day” said Aminatha Rukakiza, nursing.
Marcis Gauvin, education, said the class is different from other classes he has taken at Kirkwood. “This class has a nice diverse group of people. It’s a great break from the mental stress of my other classes,” he said.
For graduating students, many further glass-blowing opportunities exist in the state of Iowa beyond Kirkwood. Among the technical career opportunities is scientific glassblowing, a highly specialized craft of design, fabrication and repair of custom glass apparatuses in research labs, utilizing borosilicate or quartz glass. The University of Iowa offers a course in scientific glassblowing.
Artistic glassblowing opportunities are available at ISU, Coe College and Central College. ISU’s Gaffer’s Guild is a student-run club that provides studio time and learning opportunities to students and community members.
“This class helped me feel more myself,” said Mindile Djangbadja, industrial maintenance. “I’d never worked with glass. I learned a lot about safety and working well with a partner.”
Categories: Art & Life
