Welcoming Our Community to The Hotshop
With our studio tucked away in a corner of Fridley, we sometimes hear, “I had no idea you were here!”
Last week, we had the pleasure of changing that for a few more neighbors. In partnership with the City of Fridley, MN, and in celebration of National Manufacturing Week, we hosted two studio tours, welcoming about 30 curious community members to see how we turn recycled glass into handmade lighting.
The tour groups then headed off to watch glassblowing in action. Visitors got to see something that can be easy to miss when looking at a finished light fixture: the teamwork behind it. Our glassblowers pass pipes, help one another, and take on different parts of the process. Each piece takes skill, timing, and coordination.
There was plenty of time for questions, too. Community members asked where our glass comes from, how hot it needs to be to become molten, and how the material becomes the lighting you see in our collections.
Community members watch our glassblowers work in the Hotshop
Recycled Glass Has Its Own Character
We also showed visitors the glass we receive from local recycling facilities. Before it becomes a pendant or a sconce, it might have been a pickle jar or another household glass container.
Unlike glass made from new raw materials, our recycled glass starts with a mix of containers that already have their own colors and characteristics. That mix gives our Eco Clear glass its subtle green tint! It’s part of the material’s story, carried into the finished piece.
Recycled glass also asks more of our glassblowers. The material we work with is tougher to pull and shape, and it needs to be reheated more often as they work. It makes the work harder, but using 100% post-consumer recycled glass is worth that extra effort to us.
Bryan shows off the raw recycled glass that becomes our lighting, picking out a small bracelet.
How You Can Be a Part of Our Mission
One of the reasons for these tours was to introduce more people to our newspaper drop-off box and show them what happens to their donations.
In our hotshop, we fold newspaper into pads and wet them down. Our glassblowers then use those pads to help shape the hot glass by hand.
Donations in our outdoor newspaper drop-off following the tours
Are you local to the Minnesota Twin Cities area and weren’t able to make these tours? Feel free to reach out to schedule your own studio visit and lighting consultation!
A special thank you goes to Joel Lukes, our shipping lead, and Rachel Workin, Environmental Planner for the City of Fridley, for helping bring these visits together.