As a second-generation glass blower, Ian Schmidt has never lost the wonder of seeing molten glass harden into art.
“Working with your hands is a language,” Schmidt said.
That language took him from earning his allowance in his parents’ workshop to blowing glass for the Corning Museum of Glass to directing the ceramics and glass department at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton.
Now, Schmidt is overseeing construction of a new hot shop for the arts center, set to open late this year or early next year.
Glassblowing hot shops that are open to the public for lessons are few and far between, especially in Northern Virginia. The closest is in Glen Echo Park, Md., and has limited classes. Schmidt hopes that with Workhouse’s emphasis on accessible arts education, the new hot shop will open this 2,000-year-old art form to a wider community.
“For the region, it’s really going to be a big pillar,” Schmidt said. “We’ve had about a 40% increase in attendance in the last few years, so we’re kind of looking for this next thing that we’ve always wanted to do.”
Workhouse Arts Center has wanted a hot shop for over a decade. While the center has a thriving glass program, including classes in stained glass, fusing and flamework, there hadn’t been enough funds for a hot shop with a full-size kiln and glassblowing equipment.
Dick White, an instructor in Workhouse’s ceramics program and a major donor to the new hot shop, recalls how the hot shop space was closed for renovations even before he arrived on staff.
“I could only peer longingly through the dirty window,” White said.
But when Schmidt arrived at Workhouse in 2024, renovating and opening the hot shop was one of his first orders of business.
The new hot shop will have two glassblowing stations where the public can watch artisans at work and take classes. The kilns will include a special feature for our modern age: a camera with a kind of glass used in Space Shuttles, able to withstand temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The camera will allow in-person and online viewers the chance to see glass art form in real time.
This will allow artists in residence to share their work on social media, while beginners can walk in and learn the craft during one of Workhouse’s three-hour “Try Me” classes.
“I believe we’re an incubator, and one of the amazing things is watching people go from trying something to actually making a career out of it,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt just oversaw the installation of utilities in the hot shop space, and the glassblowing equipment is currently being made. This equipment will largely be paid for by donations, which have reached nearly 80% of the $75,000 goal.
Schmidt is excited for how the new hot shop will contribute to the Workhouse’s offerings, as well as to the community at large.
“I think what the Workhouse represents in this community is transformation,” said Schmidt, referring to the arts center’s history as a prison. “Big or small, $5, $10 contributions, it’s really a contribution to the transformation of the economy of Lorton and Northern Virginia. This economy was based around a prison. Now we’re basing it around art and community.”
This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
