It’s been quieter than usual at the West Michigan Glass Art Center. Since September, the center has closed to the public. It’s stopped all classes and private events. The only people there on a given day are employees and artists renting the studio.
Tory Hollister is the glass art center’s studio manager. She also teaches classes there.
“Teaching beginners is my number one inspiration, so yeah it’s difficult to not get that opportunity. Right now I have not been blowing glass myself as much. And I’ve trying to get back into blowing glass and making myself create artwork. But yeah, it’s a little disillusioning,” says Hollister.
From the outside looking in, closing to the public seems risky. One third of the glass art center’s revenue comes from classes and private events. But Glass Art Center Board President Rebecca Chadwell says they just weren’t making money.
“If we would have continued on without closing - August through the end of the year - by the end of December we would have been $160,000 in the hole,” she says.
As a result, Chadwell says they had to lay several people off and they’ll still be about $60,000 in debt at the end of the year.
She says closing until January will give the center time to rethink how they do business. Chadwell says there are several things that the glass art center needs to work on. One of them is making classes more accessible. The center has had to cancel countless workshops because no one showed up.
“From what history shows us, the community would prefer to take classes on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Our instructors would prefer to teach classes Monday through Thursday, maybe Friday. So it wasn’t - and that’s not all of the instructors but - the majority of what was going on just wasn’t mixing with what the community wanted,” says Chadwell.
Chadwell also says that the classes they have been offering haven’t encouraged people to come back. Many of them show people how to make a single item - like a glass bead or a pendant. People show up for the day, pay their money, make an item, and leave. Chadwell says that can be fun, but it doesn’t teach people the skills they need to move forward in the art.
“It’s important to learn why you’re doing what you’re doing instead of just added pretty color to something and then making a pumpkin,” she says.
“We want to build a community of people wanting to become better glassblowers or better fusers. And that’s what I think the community wants. I think they want a higher level of quality and the ability to actually learn a new skill.”
So what should the glass art center be doing? Chadwell says they’ve called other glass art centers around the country to help them figure that out. Places like the Pilchuk Glass School--founded by famous artist Dale Chihuly, as well as the Pittsburgh Glass Center, and Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis.
“So we’re bringing in those people who have either been through a restructure or have built something incredible. And that’s going to be hopefully within the next three weeks, we’re still trying to work on that date. But that’s going to be an amazing experience to be able to pull from these people and maybe follow their lead and what they’ve done. What’s been successful for them,” says Chadwell.
In the meantime, the glass art center is trying to raise $50,000 to pay for things like rent, employee salaries, and materials until the reopening January. Chadwell says they’re hoping to get $10,000 of that from a Kickstarter campaign. Some of the bigger donors can get custom made art pieces from artists like Laura Donefer, whose work can sell for up to $35,000. The deadline is on Friday.
