Host a Hot Event

With its chic, urban-industrial design, Pittsburgh Glass Center offers an exceptional space for hosting your group event, from intimate dinner parties and milestone celebrations to bar/bat mitzvahs and wedding receptions. With space for socializing, sit-down meals, presentations, and meetings, PGC is also an excellent location for corporate receptions. Whether you’re planning for 6 or 300 people, our spaces are available to rent year-round for daytime and evening hours to give your guests a truly memorable experience.

• Flexible space to set up lecture-style, banquet-style, or anything in between.
  
  
• Opportunities to add-on live glass demonstrations and hands-on glass-making experiences for you and your guests.
  
  
• Support from our expert team, including your dedicated event supervisor and our preferred caterer, Black Radish Kitchen
  
  
• Audio/Visual capabilities to support both in-person and remote attendees

See how our unique event venue would accentuate YOUR next holiday party, retreat, birthday, or other group event. Our team at Pittsburgh Glass Center eagerly invites you to explore our facilities to see how your next event could be a perfect fit for our urban chic venue. Open House attendees will enjoy light refreshments, a tour of our facilities, and live glass-working demonstrations.

Reservations are requested. 

Bring the forest indoors. In this introductory workshop, heat and shape glass rods with a 3,000°F torch to create whimsical mini mushrooms. Guided by a skilled instructor, learn torch basics and add color and details for pendants or tiny figurines perfect for plants or to display.

Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.

Melt, twirl, and spin your way to tiny works of art. In this introductory workshop, you’ll heat glass rods over a 3,000°F torch and learn to shape, layer, and decorate your very own beads. Guided by a skilled instructor, add dots, trails, and swirls to make colorful creations that are perfect to wear, share, or show off.

Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.

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.

Make your coffee table pop with your own handmade glass coasters. In this introductory workshop, learn to cut and assemble sheet glass and combine it with frit (colored glass granules) and stringers (thin colored glass rods) to design a set of one-of-a-kind coasters.

Once you design them, we’ll fire your creations in the kiln fusing all the pieces into a cohesive set of functional coasters, perfect for your home or as a fun handmade gift.

Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.

PGC 210

It’s alive… in glass. In this introductory workshop, spark your imagination as you twist, melt, and sculpt your own glass monsters and mythical creatures using a 3,000°F torch. Guided by a skilled instructor, learn torch basics and add colors, texture, and personality. Add a glass loop or keep them as sculptures, perfect to wear, share, or show off.

Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.

PGC 228

Grow your creativity and no green thumb required. In this introductory workshop, you’ll gather glass from the 2,100°F furnace and add color. Then guided by a skilled instructor, you will sculpt and blow your own unique glass succulents. No sunlight or soil required.

This workshop is a fun introductory experience into hot glassblowing and hot glass sculpting. Each participant will craft two whimsical succulents, perfect for display, gifting, or brightening any space with a touch of glassy greenery.

Due to the nature of hot glass, your items will be available for pickup 5 days after your activity.

Join us on the first Friday of each month for our Hot Jam and open house with live glassblowing and flameworking demonstrations. Check out the gallery, explore the studios, shop for glass art, and now make your own glass!

Make-It-Now Fused Glass Suncatcher

Make a unique glass decoration. In this introductory experience, you'll combine colorful pieces of glass granules (frit) and thin colorful glass rods (stringers) to create a decorative glass suncatcher of your own design. Once you design it, we’ll fire it in a kiln with a hook for hanging.

Registration is suggested, but not required, for Fused Glass Suncatcher. Walk in seats are subject to availability.

Registration is not required for Hot Jam Open House.

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 5+

Adult supervision is required for any children under 14 years old.

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.