I'm here with Joe Grant, Studio Director at Star Works Glass.

Joe, what are you gonna demonstrate for us today?

- I'm gonna make a small glass yarn spool.

It's inspired by the textile history of this building and some of the textile makers in my family.

- All right.

Well, what's the process?

- Well, first, I'm gonna get a blow pipe.

So, everything starts with the gather from the furnace.

So, this furnace is sitting at about 2,100 degrees and I'm gonna dip the pipe down inside of it and start turning to wind the glass onto the end.

[gentle upbeat music] At this temperature, the glass is kind of moving like honey, kind of a thick liquid, and then once we gather the glass from the furnace, I have lots of different tools to shape it, cool it off, and then I'm gonna trap some air in the pipe and blow a bubble into the glass.

- [Deborah] Wow.

- So, in our furnaces, we only melt clear glass.

Right now, it looks like it's orange, but you're seeing the radiant heat of 2,100 degrees coming off of it.

So, to add a veil of color, I have my assistant heating up a chunk of concentrated colored glass.

So, we're gonna add it to the tip of this bubble, and then spread it evenly over the surface.

- Tell me a little bit about your school and the instruction that's available here.

- Sure.

Yeah.

We have a lot of different educational opportunities from workshops on the weekend that the public can sign up to.

We work with the group of at-risk youth and we do some high school glassblowing classes and college classes, but the people that you see working in the other side of the studio right now are part of our internship and residency program.

Artists from around the world come and live in the area for about three months at a time and they help us make everything and teach classes, as well as help the resident artists make their work.

- And what's here for the visitor, someone who just comes to stop by?

- Sure.

This building that we're in is a former hosery mill.

So, there's 140,000 square feet of usable space.

There's a ceramics program downstairs.

There's a metals program with forging, welding, and then at the front, there's a whole lot of gallery space.

So, when you walk in sort of the first part of our building, which was the original structure, which used to be a boarding school, it's now what we call the schoolhouse gallery, where you can find artwork from all around the area, people that work in different materials, and then there's a big space out in the front that has rotating sculptural exhibitions.

We also have a cafe and tap room, where you can come get a bite to eat, have a coffee.

So, for the next step in this process, I wanna make this piece a little bit bigger.

So, I'm actually gonna let this bubble cool down, and then gather more clear glass on top and that'll give us enough mass, enough material to make a larger blown vessel that we can then add the details and patterns and textures to.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - So, Joe, this is our amazing end product.

It was really fascinating to see it come together.

It's beautiful.

- Yeah.

This is an example of what the finished piece will look like.

It's got all this texture on it.

One of the things I love about glass is that it has an endless possibilities of colors and form, just like the possibilities that we provide here at Star Works.

- Absolutely.

Thank you so much for showing us around.

It's just amazing that this resource is available to the community.

Thanks so much.

- My pleasure.

- Star Works is at 100 Brussel Drive in Star.

Their gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and their cafe and tap room is open until 9:00 p.m.

They have lots of special events.

So, to find out more, visit their website at starworksnc.org.