If you’ve recently registered for a class or workshop at Pittsburgh Glass Center, or generously made a donation online to support our mission, you might have already gotten to experience our new class registration and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Developed through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture, this technological overhaul (through a partnership with Veevart and CourseStorm) coincides with PGC’s 25th anniversary and the completion of a landmark $15 million facility expansion.
As one of nearly 200 institutions across the U.S. and the UK selected for the newest cohort of the Digital Accelerator Program, PGC partnered early on with Dave Ebert of the Lapine Group to analyze infrastructure needs, resulting in a recommendation to engage Rivers Agile as the implementation partner. The project was led by Rivers Agile’s Director of Delivery, Chris Papic.
PGC’s Registrar AK Kurtz took on the role of Bloomberg Tech Fellow and worked closely with Rivers Agile who, in turn, recommended Veevart and CourseStorm, and the implementation of a system that centralized student data and streamlines operations across many areas of PGC’s business. The new platform has already yielded immediate results; since a soft launch in late 2025, PGC saw a significant year-over-year increase in registrations. Notably, we are now able to offer payment plans for the first time, making the specialized cost of glassmaking more accessible to a broader audience.
“The expertise and mentorship provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, through both Dave and then Chris, were vital in accelerating our staff’s development and enabling us to introduce significant technological advances more quickly than we’d thought possible,” said Heather McElwee, the Randi & L. Van V. Dauler, Jr. Executive Director at PGC. “This digital transformation allows us to be smarter and more efficient, giving us a deeper understanding of our patrons so we can better serve our growing glass community.”
The digital launch serves as the backbone for PGC’s physical growth. Our recently completed $15 million expansion nearly doubled our capacity to meet surging demand. Since our founding, Pittsburgh Glass Center has engaged over 750,000 individuals; we now welcomes nearly 75,000 people annually through classes, exhibitions, and community events.
The new CRM allows our administrative team to generate detailed financial reporting and audience insights, directly supporting the center’s strategic objectives to increase earned revenue and foster a more inclusive, globally connected glass community.
“PGC began as a dream to build community through creativity,” said McElwee. “Twenty-five years later, we’re not only still glowing, but we’re growing. This expansion and our new digital tools allow us to carry Pittsburgh’s extraordinary glass legacy forward into the next quarter-century.”
