Photos: Courtesy of Pilchuck Glass School / Hot shop photos (2): Russell Johnson
Forty years ago,
a rustic Pilchuck
workshop fueled
a new era o f glass
experimentation.
INTRODUCTION BY
SUZUUne Beal
Clockwise from left:
Students work in
the main Pilchuck hot
shop at night.
Michael Rogers
demonstrates at the
school on opening
night in 2007.
The main hot shop
at Pilchuck.
S IN C E IT S H U M B L E B E G IN N IN G S IN
1 9 7 1
,
P ilc h u c k G lass S ch o o l has b een a h o tb e d o f
id eas and in n o v atio n . W h e n D ale C h ih u ly
tra v e le d to th e P a cific N o r th w e s t to sco u t
lo catio n s fo r a su m m er w o rk s h o p , little did
he k n o w th at he w a s lau n ch in g th e m ost
co m p re h e n siv e glass sch o o l in th e w o rld
- and an im p o rtan t artistic la b o ra to ry fo r
d ecad es to com e.
C h ih u ly , a n ativ e o f T a c o m a , W a s h in g -
to n , h ad estab lish ed h im se lf in th e glass
p rog ram at th e R h o d e Islan d S ch o o l o f D e -
sign in th e 1960s. B u t he fe lt a p u ll to the
N o rth w e st: It w a s h o m e, it w a s b e a u tifu l,
and as a co u n tercu ltu ral hub at th e tim e, it
w a s a g rea t p lace fo r artists lo o k in g to e x -
pand th e ir o p tio n s. In 1970, C h ih u ly shared
his dream o f a N o r th w e s t glass sch o o l w ith
R u th T a m u ra , h ead o f th e glass d ep artm en t
at C a lifo rn ia C o lle g e o f A r ts and C ra fts in
O a k la n d (n o w C a lifo rn ia C o lle g e o f th e
A r ts ). C h ih u ly im agin ed w o rk in g artists
a ctin g as m en tors to n o v ic e g la ssb lo w e rs in
ap p ren ticesh ip s th at a llo w e d stu d en ts to
learn b y d oin g.
A rm e d w ith a $2,000 research g ra n t,
C h ih u ly h ead ed to S e a ttle w ith a k e y q u es-
tion : W h e re ? H is q u estio n w a s a n sw e re d
b y th e re sp e cte d art p atro n s Joh n H au b erg
and A n n e G o u ld H a u b erg , w h o o ffe re d
C h ih u ly use o f th e ir land in th e c o rn e r o f
a tre e farm 50 m iles n o rth o f S e a ttle . T h e
o rig in ally p ro p o se d site had e x istin g stru c-
tu res th at cou ld b e re sto re d to se rv e as sh e l-
te r and w o r k sp aces fo r stu d en ts.
B u t a sh o rt h ik e up a n ea rb y hill reve aled
a n o th er site w ith sp ectacu la r v ie w s o f
P u g e t S o u n d and th e S k a g it R iv e r V a lle y .
C h ih u ly im m ed iately ask ed to use th e u n d e-
v e lo p e d site in stead . P ilc h u c k w o u ld be
b u ilt fro m scratch .
In th e su m m er o f ’71 - a p articu la rly
rain y y e a r - 1 6 stu d en ts w e r e in v ite d from
e ig h t co lle g e s b e lo n g in g to th e U n io n o f
In d e p e n d e n t C o lle g e s o f A r t. T h e y sp en t
d ays c o n stru ctin g th e first h o t sh o p , and
n igh ts cam p ed o u t in s o g g y sle e p in g b ags,
arm y surplus te n ts, and m a k e sh ift stru c-
tu res. T h e y lea rn ed as m uch abou t s u rv iv -
in g in th e w ild e rn e ss as th e y did ab o u t glass.
B y 1976, w ith th e finan cial su p p o rt o f the
H a u b erg s, th e sch o o l had b een estab lish ed
as a n o n p ro fit and co m p rised n u m erou s rus-
tic stru ctu re s d esig n ed b y n o ted a rch itect
T h o m a s B o s w o rth , in clu d in g a b ath h o u se,
o p en -air flat sh o p , and an a w ard -w in n in g
h o t shop.
fcb/m arn american craft 037
