From July 23 to July 26, 2026, three of Pittsburgh’s premier arts organizations are heading northwest to the Seattle Art Fair. Their mission? To show the Pacific Northwest exactly why Pittsburgh has quietly become the beating heart of the American craft renaissance.
In early 2025, glass artist Jaime Guerrero partnered with PGC and the Latino Community Center to launch a powerful initiative: free glassblowing classes for Latino youth in Pittsburgh. On the surface, it might sound like an art class. But for the students, it became so much more.
From July 23 to July 26, 2026, three of Pittsburgh’s premier arts organizations are heading northwest to the Seattle Art Fair. Their mission? To show the Pacific Northwest exactly why Pittsburgh has quietly become the beating heart of the American craft renaissance.
On the first day of spring, a little magic sprouted up across Pittsburgh city parks. Tucked into tree roots and shrubs, nestled under benches, perched along paths, and hidden next to landmarks, fountains, and playgrounds, 25 handmade glass mushrooms popped up for Pittsburgh Glass Center’s 4th Annual Magnificent Glass Mushroom Hunt in partnership with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
On the first day of spring, a little magic sprouted up across Pittsburgh city parks. Tucked into tree roots and shrubs, nestled under benches, perched along paths, and hidden next to landmarks, fountains, and playgrounds, 25 handmade glass mushrooms popped up for Pittsburgh Glass Center’s 4th Annual Magnificent Glass Mushroom Hunt in partnership with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
On the first day of spring, a little magic sprouted up across Pittsburgh city parks. Tucked into tree roots and shrubs, nestled under benches, perched along paths, and hidden next to landmarks, fountains, and playgrounds, 25 handmade glass mushrooms popped up for Pittsburgh Glass Center’s 4th Annual Magnificent Glass Mushroom Hunt in partnership with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
Step off the field and get closer to the fire at Pittsburgh Glass Center during Draft Weekend, April 24–26!
Pittsburgh Glass Center has partnered with Contemporary Craft and Union Project in a newly announced expansion of the Pittsburgh IS Craft initiative, a strategic collaboration seeking to bring Pittsburgh’s craft community to the forefront, promoting Pittsburgh as a national and international craft destination.
If you’ve recently registered for a workshop at Pittsburgh Glass Center, you might have already experienced our new class registration and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, developed through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture.
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Hot Shop ActivitiesWith the help of an instructor, participants will learn how to transform 2,000°F molten glass into a unique glass artwork. Sculpted items will be manipulated and shaped with various metal hand tools. Blown items will be inflated via a flexible tube attached to a blow pipe. The Hot Shop, as the name might suggest, can get warm at times, particularly during summer months. That being said, the activity will only take about 10-15 minutes per person so you won’t be warm for long. We encourage our guests to wear lighter, natural material clothing for safety and comfort. Visitors are welcome to bring water bottles and a water fountain/filling station is available. These activities will involves sitting, standing, and walking around. Suitable for ages 5 and up. |
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Kiln Shop Fusing ActivitiesCombine brilliantly colored pieces of glass granules and thin glass strands to create a one-of-a-kind luminous fused glass artwork. Once you design it, we’ll fire it, so that all pieces become one. Participants will work seated in our climate-controlled Classroom and with room temperature pieces of glass. You will begin with a glass tile that acts as your “canvas,” then arrange the colorful glass granules and thin glass strands into a design of your choosing. Once the designs are complete, suncatchers are placed in a kiln overnight to melt (fuse) together forever. Suitable for ages 5 and up. |
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Flame Shop ActivitiesWith the help of an instructor, participants will learn how to use tools and a tabletop torch to melt and manipulate glass rods and transform them into truly one-of-a-kind objects. These activities take place in our climate controlled Flame Shop, which involves working with a flame, but is not nearly as warm as our Hot Shop. Participants will be sitting at a workstation, making this option slightly more accessible and less physically demanding. Suitable for ages 8 and up. |
