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Flameworked Leaves
PGC 178 Bring the outdoors inside. In this introductory workshop, create whimsical glass leaves using a 3,000°F torch. Guided by a skilled instructor, learn torch basics and explore shaping and surface techniques to form expressive, leaf-inspired designs. Add a loop to make it a pendant or keep them as mini sculptures. Perfect for brightening your décor, gifting, or celebrating the seasons.
Blown Glass Pumpkins
Carve out some fun with molten glass pumpkins. In this introductory workshop, you’ll gather glowing molten glass from the 2,100°F furnace and add colors of your choice. Then guided by a skilled instructor, you will blow and sculpt it into beautiful pumpkins with curly stems. This workshop is a fun introductory experience into hot glassblowing. Each participant will make two blown pumpkins, perfect for harvesting compliments at home, gifting to a loved one, or adding a decorative touch to any space.
Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.
Flameworked Garden Slugs
Take it slow and let your creativity slide. In this introductory workshop, learn to heat and shape borosilicate glass into charming little slugs using a 3,000°F torch. Guided by a skilled instructor, learn torch basics and add color and texture to make each one your own sluggish creation. Add a glass loop to make it wearable or keep it as a figurine to add to a potted plant.
Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.
Sculpted Glass Flowers
Let your creativity bloom. In this introductory workshop, you’ll gather molten glass from the 2,100°F furnace and add color. Then guided by a skilled instructor, you will pull, shape, stretch, and sculpt it into colorful flowers.
This workshop is a fun introductory experience to hot glass sculpting. Each participant will craft two unique flowers, ideal for display, gifting, or brightening any space.
Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.
Guided Meditation at Pittsburgh Glass Corner
with Jeffrey Dorsey
“Mindfulness is a pause – the space between stimulus and response: that’s where choice lies.” — Tara Brach, Psychologist and Meditation Teacher
Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Or maybe angry or sad with the state of the world? Or maybe just longing for more quiet space to connect with your heart and other compassionate people?
If so, you are warmly invited to Guided Meditation at The Corner, Pittsburgh Glass Center's Community Space (5431 Penn Avenue, Pgh PA 15206) starting Tuesday, October 6th from 5:30p-6:30p and continuing on Tuesdays through December.
Weekly sessions will be facilitated by Jeffrey Dorsey and include Guided Meditations and time for sharing, questions, and holding space for one another.
No meditation experience necessary.
Registration is required for each session. Sign up for just one session or attend every week!
Registration for Guided Meditation is donation-based. All donations help make this workshop possible and support future wellness programs at Pittsburgh Glass Center.
What To Expect
Each session will offer a variety of meditative techniques for you to explore including: Presencing and attunement, visualization and mental body scans, use of mantras, breathwork and gentle movement exercises, basic chakra energy alignment, concentration/focus exercises, inquiry and open awareness, meditations that awaken a compassionate heart such as Tonglin, Metta (loving-kindness practices), and more. Inspirations for the teachings and practices will come from nature, mysticism, ancient wisdom traditions, art, science and can be applied to your life and current events. The practices offered will build on what we are learning week to week, but you need not be able to attend every session to participate. Whether you are curious about meditation, or want to start, re-start, or sustain a mindfulness/meditation practice, all participants are invited to attend as often as possible and bring a curious/beginner's mind.
Why Meditation
The ancient Tibetan word, "gom" means, "to familiarize ourselves with" and in the ancient Buddhist tradition the word, "gom" refers to the practice of training the mind. This mind training is what we call meditation and includes techniques and practices that help us become more aware of thoughts, emotions, and sense perceptions through expanded awareness. We can then be more mindful/aware in all the choices we make in our day-to-day lives. In this way, we begin to notice and then liberate the mind from unhealthy habitual patterns so that we can become more present and authentic. Over time this can lead to life happening to us, to what our life wants to reveal through us. The form of meditation will practice is called Vipassana, which means "to see things as they really are." It is a non-sectarian practice, meaning it is not tied to any religion or belief system, and can be practiced by anyone, anywhere, anytime. The practice uses the senses of the body as a receiver to expand awareness, and it is used universally as a remedy for human suffering and a path to self-transformation. While the practice can appear simple (almost like sitting and doing nothing), it can offer a profound sense of clarity, feeling more whole and centered, and more creative and compassionate.
Benefits of Meditation Practice
- Feel supported by a community of practitioners
- Regulate your nervous system and co-regulate with others
- Manage and protect your energy/vitality
- Reclaim sovereignty of your mind in a world that is constantly demanding your attention
- Become more familiar with yourself (gain greater insight into how you are wired, your habitual patterns, etc.)
- Ground and re-source for a fuller sense of embodiment
- Become more curious and expand conscious awareness
- Understand the difference between pain and suffering and how to work with both
- Work skillfully with difficult emotions (grief, anger, etc.)
- Learn to set healthy boundaries
- Build capacity for greater alignment, integration, and healing
- Connect to lineage, ancestors, and the more-than-human world
- Rest in loving awareness as your true nature
Accessibility & Accommodations
The Corner is an accessible space, and all practices can be done seated. Instruction is offered via invitation so participants can choose for themselves what is right for them. This is a non-striving, non-harm, non-self-help practice. In order to make our space safe(r), all participants will be asked to abide by community agreements that will be shared upon registration and be posted on the wall for each session. If you require additional accommodations, please let us know at Accessibility@PittsburghGlassCenter.org.
Have a question about the guided meditation?
Email Jeffrey at jdorsey641@gmail.com
About the Instructor
Jeffrey's heartwork combines 30 years of creative practices including art-making, mysticism, ritual, mindfulness/meditation and yoga, all of which make up his most recent art project entitled, Another Light: Making Space for Healing. He is trained in trauma-informed facilitation and a variety of therapeutic modalities. He felt called to teach meditation during the COVID-19 pandemic to support community members through difficult times and since then has widened his meditation offerings to include group meditative retreats, teaching at the Carnegie Museum's Mindful Museum program, and custom trainings for organizations and corporations. He is also currently in the process of becoming a certified psychosynthesis coach. Besides meditation, Jeffrey has three decades of leadership experience in arts/community non-profits including: Managing the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative and co-creating Unblurred: First Fridays on Penn; as Director of The Friendship Development Associates (which sold PGC their building located at 5472 Penn Avenue); and, as the current Executive Director at Union Project. He lives in Friendship with his wife, two-adult children, and two cats. He is excited to hold space for community members through this pilot program.
Make-It-A-Date: Fused Charcuterie Plate - Oct 23
Cozy up with your date in the kiln shop for an evening of creativity, color, and connection. This special date night invites couples to collaborate on a single glass artwork, learning the beauty (and teamwork!) that goes into crafting glass by hand. It’s the ultimate compatibility test: can you fuse your ideas as seamlessly as your glass?
Together, you’ll design and assemble a one-of-a-kind fused glass charcuterie plate using glass glass granules (frit), and thin glass rods (stringers). Once it is finished and fired it will be perfect for serving your favorite snacks, crackers, and cheese.
After your hands-on studio time, kick back on the patio with a glass of wine or beer and some tasty bites, let the live music set the mood as you wander the gallery, and be wowed by glassblowing and flameworking demonstrations happening throughout the evening. If you register for a later glassmaking slot, we suggest arriving early to enjoy all this event has to offer.
Each couple makes 1 charcuterie plate together.
Make-It-Now experiences offer a quick, hands-on introduction to the colorful world of kilnformed glass. In the kiln shop, you’ll learn from a skilled local artist how to design and assemble your own glass creation using glass frit and stringers. In less than an hour, explore how layers of glass come together to form vibrant patterns and images of your own design. Perfect for beginners, these quick experiences let you discover the beauty of working with glass at your own pace and with no heat.
Ages 21+
Guests under 21 not permitted.
Due to the nature of hot glass, items cannot be taken home the same day they are created. All items made in the kiln shop must be heated and fused in the kiln, then cooled slowly. Items are available for pick-up after 5 days. Shipping can be arranged on site the day of your activity.
Make-It-A-Date: Blown Glass Pumpkin
Turn up the heat for a one-of-a-kind date night in the hot shop.
In this quick and exciting experience, you and your partner will team up with a skilled artist to gather molten glass from our 2,100°F furnace and shape your own blown glass pumpkins, perfect for celebrating autumn together. Each person will make their own pumpkin to create a set of 2 pumpkins per couple. Perfect to share and admire for the season or all year long.
After your hands-on studio time, unwind with a glass of wine or beer and enjoy light bites. Let live music set the mood as you explore the gallery and take in glassblowing and flameworking demonstrations happening throughout the night. If you’re registered for a later glassmaking slot, we recommend arriving early to experience everything the evening has to offer.
Ages 21+
Guests under 21 not permitted.
Due to the nature of hot glass, items cannot be taken home the same day they are created. All items made in the hot shop must go through an annealing process to slowly cool the glass. Items are available for pick-up after 5 days. Shipping can be arranged on site the day of your activity.
Fused Fall Suncatcher
Using warm autumn colors and festive imagery inspired by falling leaves, pumpkins, and harvest themes, you’ll assemble a luminous suncatcher that catches and transforms light. Once your design is complete, we’ll fire it in the kiln so all the pieces fuse together into a finished work of art. Perfect for brightening a window or adding a handmade touch to your seasonal décor.