Pittsburgh Glass Center, Inc.

Glass Art: We teach it. We create it. We promote it. We support those who make it.

Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC) is a school, gallery and state-of-the-art green glass studio, one of only a few public access glass art centers in the U.S. World-renowned glass artists come here to make studio glass art. People interested in learning more about glass come here from all over the world to take a class, explore the contemporary glass gallery, and watch live hot glass demonstrations.

Since opening in 2001, over 40 glass artists have moved to Pittsburgh to live and work at PGC, making Pittsburgh the fastest growing glass art community in the United States. In the last 14 years, over 200,000 people have visited PGC to take a class, rent the studio, explore the gallery, or see a demonstration. We are very proud of the progress we have made over the last 14 years. PGC has successfully connected the region's history as a major producer of glass to its creative future through the innovative use of glass as art. Given Pittsburgh's rich history of glass manufacturing, in many ways it is hard to believe the Glass Center is such a young organization. It is now hard to imagine Pittsburgh's art and culture sector without PGC.

One of the top glass art facilities in the U.S., Pittsburgh Glass Center is a "Green Building" with state of the art ventilation in all shops and heat recovery from the furnaces. Building elements such as garage doors, glass paneling, and exposed brick are not only recycled elements, but also give PGC its unique urban/industrial edge. The building has been redesigned in accordance with federal Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and is LEED Gold Certified.

Pittsburgh Glass Center is also the largest arts organization on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's East End and is a cornerstone of the Penn Avenue Arts District, a collaborative community effort to revitalize this East End corridor through arts-related programs. By making its home in this location, PGC is an anchor tenant for the arts district and provides support to the efforts of neighboring arts groups, youth programs, social service agencies, and community development initiatives. The area has become a vibrant arts district.

PGC fuels a thriving glass art ecosystem of people, facilities and innovative programming that together shape our region's creative economy. Our guiding principles of collaboration, sustainability, diversity, and creativity enable us to extend our region's proud glass legacy into the future.

We share our passion locally, nationally and internationally to make the glass art community more diverse, vibrant and accessible. From the casually curious to the master artist, PGC welcomes and nurtures everyone so they are amazed, inspired and transformed­.

Testimonials

"You have to make friends quickly - especially when you have 2000 degree molten glass to deal with." - Zach Layhew

At age14, Zach Layhew entered into the Teen Boot Camp at the Pittsburgh Glass Center without knowing any of the 30 plus teens taking the class. From 9am-9pm every day for a week, he moved through each studio at PGC. He discovered flameworking where he made pendants and little animal sculptures, the hot shop where he created Christmas ornaments and flowers, and he sampled glass blowing and fusing. The experience of working with strangers in a new environment and medium was almost a shock to Layhew who identified as a closed-off introvert. He found this week overwhelming - and completely liberating.

"Working in glass is a problem-solving builder because sometimes it's not what you can make, it's what you can fix. If you want to create a certain shape, you're always going to start with a giant heap of molten glass. You have to ask yourself how to get to the next step."

Layhew's next step was to take more classes at PGC all through high school. Shortly after graduating, he began working as a teaching assistant, and eventually, started instructing 2 hour workshops. From there, he found himself holding demonstrations for 40+ people and teaching 8 week courses. When accomplished glass artist John Miller is in town, he specifically asks for Layhew's assistance. These experiences have nurtured Layhew's confidence while the magic, complexity, and endless possibilities of glass keep him motivated. He mainly creates large, sculptural forms, but he also makes intricate goblets. His sketchbook is full of future pieces he will develop while helping his students to realize what they can achieve.

"Now I can walk into a studio with a bunch of complete strangers who are in the same nervous experience I was once in, and say 'I can show ya'."

At age 24, Zach Layhew can look back on these transformative years he has spent at PGC. Once a trepidatious student, Layhew has become a confident teacher and innovative artist who has embraced working with glass as part of his identity...