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Engaging the Minnesota community in the study and appreciation of glass arts while expanding the potential of the medium.
2010 East Hennepin Ave, Building 10, Minneapolis, MN 612-623-3624
Beginning Glassblowing I
5-week
An in-depth introduction to the fundamental knowledge and skills of glassblowing.
Class includes instruction on safety, tool usage, basic shaping skills, as well as advanced forms and color application techniques.
Upon completion, students are prepared for Hot Shop rental.
March 7,14,21,28, Apr 4 6-9 pm
Valentine's Special
If you are curious about what it's like to work with molten glass, this one-on-one guided experience is the perfect way for you and your Valentine to test the waters.
There are limited times available on Valentines Day, however, you can schedule your Valentine Special any day of the week from 9 am to 7 pm.
Glass Fusing Intermediate
Delve deeper into the possiblities of creating with glass fusing. Experience advanced fusing techniques for more complex designs. Move into the cold shop to expand your working knowledge of maniputating cold glass. Previous glass fusing experience required.
Instructor: Mark Hall
Feb 25 & March 3, 1-5pm
Glass Sand Casting
Students learn how to construct quick and crisp open face molds in sand and the laddeling process to fill each mold. This class covers the basics of casting and also tips and tricks to make your castings clean and free of cracks and checks.
No previous glass experience required for this class.
Sunday, February 19, 1-4pm
> More Info
Rental Calendar
Price: $170
With the guidance of a Foci instructor you will each design and create a beautiful paperweight while learning basic glass techniques.
The Valentine's Special is arranged to fit your schedule.
You will be sent an email within 48 hours of your purchase requesting the date and time that you would like to schedule your Valentine's Special. There are limited times available on Valentines Day, however, you can schedule your Valentine Special any day of the week from 9 am to 7 pm.
Glass Discovery
Price: $85
If you are curious about what it's like to work with molten glass, this one-on-one guided experience is the perfect way to test the waters.
With the guidance of a Foci instructor you will design and create a beautiful paperweight while learning basic glass techniques.
The Glass Discovery is arranged to fit your schedule.
You will be sent an email within 48 hours of your purchase requesting the date and time that you would like to schedule your Glass Discovery. TImes are available 7 days a week from 9 am to 7 pm.
*If you choose to register for an Introduction to Glassblowing or Beginning Glassblowing class after your Glass Discovery, you will receive $25 off the class fee.
Glass Blowing Demonstration
Price: $75
Inspiring, mystifying, compelling - glass has captivated imaginations through the ages. If you have a group of students, artists, colleagues or friends who enjoy educational adventures, Foci MCGA has an exhilarating experience for you.
Foci instructors provide a narration on the origins and properties of glass and demonstrate creating a spectacular piece of glass art.
This fascinating demonstration lasts an hour and a half, includes a question and answer time, and is suitable for art classes, corporate groups, senior citizens, professional organizations, and others.
If your group is over 20 people, the price is $100.
To be scheduled at the convenience of you and the instructor.
Please call to schedule after registering.
612.623.3624
Hot Glass Social
Price: $75.00
Host an exciting event for your friends or colleagues at our studio. Glassblowing demos by Foci and hands-on experience are included. Guests can roll up their sleeves, pick up a tool, and make their own colorful paperweight. Ideal for birthday parties and employee outings.
A Hot Glass Social ranges from two to four hours depending on the size of a group. 6 participant minimum.
Participants may bring food & beverages.
($75/per person)
Glassblowing Introduction
(2 Day Class)
Price: $330
No experience necessary. Ideal for the beginner or as a refresher course, this hands-on class covers the basics on studio safety and use of glass tools, as well as the fundamentals of creating paperweights and blown vessels. Textbooks are available for use and/or sale during class.
Upon completion, students will be prepared for Hot Shop Rental.
Meets 9 am-1 pm, on a Saturday and Sunday.
Next class: Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, 9am-1pm
Glassblowing I 5 week class
Price: $450
This class covers all of the content of Introduction to Glassblowing with additional techniques covered. An in-depth introduction to all the fundamental knowledge and skills of glassblowing.
Textbook included
Meets 6:00-9:00 PM, five consecutive weeks with one Lab night included.
Mar 2012 Class: 7, 14, 21, 28, Apr 4
May 2012 Class: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
June 2012 Class: 6, 13, 20, 27, Jul 11
Glassblowing II 5 week class
Price: $400
Take your basic glass skills to the next level with this challenging and informative course. Building on the basic skills learned in Beginning Glassblowing, this course adds new shapes, skills and techniques to your blowing arsenal.
If you would like to practice your new gained skills in the days between class sessions, you can purchase either one or two
3-hr. rental slots for a discounted price of only $30/hour.
Up to 6 hrs. of discounted studio rental can be purchased after you are registered for this class. Look underneath the rental calendar to purchase time online.
Next Class:
Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1
Glassblowing I and Glassblowing II
Price: $850.00
Sale Price: $750.00
Register for Glassblowing I and Glassblowing II at the same time and save $100 on the total price.
Glass Fusing Introduction
Price: $100
This hands-on, one day class uses techniques craftsmen have passed down through the ages. Explore the creative possibilities of fusing glass of various colors, shapes and styles.
Students will design and create a glass tile and learn basic cutting, kiln operation, safety, tools, materials, molds and more. No previous experience necessary.
Taught by glass artist Mark Hall.
Jan 29, 2012 from 1-4pm
Feb 18, 2012 from 1-4pm
Intermediate Glass Fusing - 2 day class
Price: $125
Delve deeper into bas-relief, pattern bars, glass painting, and using molds. Surface design elements we'll explore include hot-worked stringers, mica flakes, and incorporating pre-fused pieces in your work. We'll explore the possibilities of slumping mirrors with designs etched into their backside.
Students are also shown basic cold-working techniques like using a saw to cut pattern bars, sandblasting, and using horizontal flat lap grinders.
Next class: Feb 25 and March 3, 2012 1-5pm
Glass Kiln Casting
Price: $300
Join us as we explore the lost wax process for casting glass. Through this multi-step process, students create a unique, detailed glass sculpture. No previous experience required. Class meets two weekend days.
Taught by sculptor and expert mold-maker, Roger Junk.
Next class: Jan 21 and 22, from 1-4pm
Glass Sand Casting Introduction
Are you an artist looking to use glass for the first time, or perhaps a glass artist wanting to explore the possibilities of furnace casting?
Next class: Sunday, February 19, 1-4pm
Kid's Glass Sand Casting
Price: $100.00
Grown-ups usually get to have all the fun, but now kids can try their hand at glass design too! Children will experience the construction of sand molds. They can choose to make framed hand prints, dinosaur eggs or expressive art pieces while learning the fundamentals of glass production. A Foci MCGA artist will then pour molten glass into the molds as wide-eyes behold their design taking shape.
2012 calendar TBD
This class is for all ages.
Advanced Sand Casting for Kids
(1 Day Class)
Have your kids tried sand casting and want to do more or explore new ideas? This class will give them a chance to fully explore their creativity. Make custom gifts for the holidays or just let your inner artist take control to design your own piece. Molds will be created by the students and filled with glass by a professional staff member.
Next class: Sunday, Dec 4, 1-4pm
Holiday Hot Casting Day
Deck your halls with Christmas castings. Join us for a fun filled day of making holiday themed castings. We will use both sand and steel molds to make small glass decorations and gifts perfect for that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list.
This event is open to all ages and previous glass experience is not required. Just design a mold and we will expertly fill it for you and you too can give the gift of handmade glass. All materials will be provided just bring your creativity
Next class: Dec. 17 1-5 pm
Casting with Color
Price: $120.00
Clear glass can be beautiful but sometimes you need color to make a piece really pop or read better. This workshop will cover all of the methods of using color with cast glass. You will learn how to use frits with precision, when and where to use powders, and how to use color inclusions and place drawings into your casting. We also will discuss how to add color after a piece is annealed.
Next class: Saturday, Nov 19, 2-6pm
Leading Stained Glass in the German Tradition
Traditional German-leading is becoming a lost art form. Be an active participant and help to continue the tradition.
This course is intended to teach and refine stained glass leading skills as they apply to larger art glass panels. In this class students create a clear glass panel, concentrating on accurate glass cutting and leading concepts to build confidence in fabricating art glass in future works. Beginners welcomed.
Taught by Mark Hall, who had an artist residency at Derix Glass in Germany.
Cost: $150
Next class: Jan 21 and 22, 1-5pm
Pâte-de-verre
Price: $150 CLASS FULL
Pâte-de-verre (Paste of Glass) is a technique invented in France. Since then it has spread across the globe and is now a finely established part of kiln work. Pâte de verre is a process involving the mixing of glass power or fine frit with an adhesive substance and water then applying to the inside of a mold and firing it.
Students make their own models out of clay then cast them in plaster and decorate them using colored powders. After firing students will remove their pieces from the mold, cutting and grinding them so they have a lovely piece to take home!
Next class Oct. 22 & 23, 9am-Noon
Cold Shop Orientation
Price: $10
Learn the valuable skill set of enhancing your glass creations using our cold shop equipment. Try your hand at sandblasting, grinding and more.
Cold Shop Orientation is required before working in the cold shop.
Cold Shop Orientation is held the 2nd Monday of each month, from 6-7 pm.
Please pre-register online or through email.
Gift Certificate
Price: $50.00+
Give a gift they'll be talking about for years! With a Foci MCGA Certificate, the recipient can sign-up for one of our classes or visit our studio gallery to select a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of local glass art.
(Minimum purchase of $50.00)
Kiln-Formed Cylinders
Price: $250
* 1st day: cut strips and assemble sections for fuse-to-stick firing in the kiln.
* 2nd day: load the mold and create cookies for full-fuse.
* 3rd day: cold work cylinders preparing sets for blowing-out.
* 4th day: blow-out cylinders in the Hot Shop, creating a unique vessel!
Each session will be held from 1-4pm. Ssession may go longer on the 4th day, depending on number of students.
No experience necessary...you don't even have to be a glassblower. A gaffer will be available the last day of class to blow-out your creation if you do not have previous Hot Shop experience.
Sept. 10, 17, 24 and Oct 1, 2011
Using Molds
Every mold is different and you need to create the right bubble for each mold, have the correct size gather.
Techniques utilizing optic twist, spin molds, split-bubble molds, fin molds and more will be featured.
Session includes demonstration from the instructor as well as one hour+ of bench-time for each student to practice these newly gained techniques.
Instructor: Michael Boyd
Mar 10, 2012 1-6pm
Visiting Artist Workshop: Creative Molds
Price: $200
Visiting artist Philip Vinson is coming to our studio to explore the variety of materials that can be used for molds, over the course of this three-day intensive.
We will spend the first day with discussions & demonstrations, then into brainstorming & creating our blow molds. The second and third day will primarily be in the hot shop, blowing glass into our freshly made molds and altering them as needed.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own materials, whether it be metal, wood (solid wood only), graphite and found objects. They should have some experience in the hot shop, and come prepared to be inspired and most importantly, have fun.
**If you don't have glassblowing experience, you can still take this class, create your mold, and have an experienced gaffer use the mold to create a glass piece for you.
Nov 11-13, 10am-4pm each day
Wood and Steel Molds
Price: $120
Explore the process of casting glass into and over various wood and steel components. Both wood and steel create a texture completely different from sand or plaster molds.
Learn how to create a mold that can be used to make multiplies of the same shape and can be cast into repeatedly.
The workshop also covers punting up castings and refining the shape using the glory hole.
Next class: Saturday Nov 5, 2-6pm
Sculpting Glass
Use this opportunity to brush-up on your scuplting skills before the Willenbrink-Johnsen workshop, or learn for the first time.
Michael will bring you through various techniques on how to shape molten glass.
Jan 7, 2012 1-6pm
Color Application
Everybody wants to know how you get the color in the glass when they see it for the first time. In this class, you learn more techniques than you could ever imagine.
Learn how to apply color with bits, overlay transparents over opaque, torch stringers, powder with and without stencils, and threading. The difference between striking and reduction is explained. Learn surface manipulation, drop overlays, and bubble overlays (Swedish overlays). Cut the color in a mold.
Feb 11, 2012 1-6pm
Goblets
Goblets are said to be one of the most technically difficult forms to make as a glass artist. Learn the secrets to succuss in your stemware.
This workshop will help you blow thinner, work hotter, apply stems and feet with an assistant, and help you understand how to work with an assistant.
Session includes Instructor demonstration as well as one hour+ of bench-time for each student to practice these newly gained techniques.
May 12, 2012, 2011 1-6pm
Cane Working
Have you ever marveled at the intricate patterns some glass artists make and wonder, "How did they do that?"
This workshop shows the basics of pulling cane so it cools evenly, how to arrange and heat cane on the pastorale, how to roll the pattern of cane up on both a bubble and a collar, as well as blowing them out into your own unique creation.
Session includes demnstration from the instructor as well as one hour+ of bench-time for each student to practice these newly gained techniques.
Photo Resist and Sandblasting
Price: $50
Learn how to take any image and transfer it to your glass art.
Send us the image you'd like to work with and we will translate it into a half tone image onto resist paper. This process will be demonstrated so you can do it yourself in Adobe Photoshop.
For demo purposes students will be working on sheet glass, with Michael demonstrating how to apply it to glass vessels, and sandblasting the image into the surface.
Next class date TBD
Price: $50+
Give a gift they'll be talking about for years. With a Foci MCGA Certificate, the recipient can sign-up for one of our classes or visit our studio gallery to select a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of local glass art.
(Minimum purchase of $50)
60-Minute Clinics
Steve Claypatch and Craig Campbell will be presenting free, one-hour clinics on different techniques such as using molds, color application in paperweights, feet & lip-wraps and various shapes/forms.
No need to register, everyone is welcome to come watch and learn.
Next Session: Oct. 27th at 5pm
Visiting Artist Workshop:
Karen Willenbrink & Jasen Johnsen
World famous hot-glass sculpting artists Karen Willenbrink and Jasen Johnsen are coming to Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts for a 3-day seminar, January 13-15, 2012 from 9 am to 6 pm each day .
While the rare seminar filled up almost immediately, you can still come and watch this extraordinary duo as a member of the audience.
The entrance fee for watching from the floor is $150. Please pre-register via Paypal or by calling the Foci MCGA office at 612-623-3624.
The suggested donation for watching from the mezzanine is $20.
Special Fire & Ice Bonus Event, Friday,
January 13, 8-10 pm
As an extra-special bonus, come out to Foci MCGA for a special Meet & Greet and hot glass sculpting demonstration with these amazing artists. Enjoy on-site wood-fired pizza appetizers and socializing.
$20 per person, $10 for students; tickets available at the door.
>Willenbrink and Johnsen
The Transformation of Foci Glass into
Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts
The vision for Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts has been in the mind of Michael D. Boyd for almost as long as Michael been blowing glass. He envisioned a community that shared knowledge, encouraged creativity and pushed the limits of the artistic potential of glass. In 1987, as a young teenager in Toledo, Ohio, Michael's parents enrolled him in glass blowing lessons. Throughout high school, Michael continued studying glass blowing at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Foci Glass began in Ohio in 1999 on his parents farm in a pole barn where Michael and his brother, Scott, built a glass studio. They developed their skill and traveled to art shows around the country to sell their work.
After several years, Michael moved to Minneapolis to work for glassblowers Robinson Scott, Dick Huss and Patrick Cassanova. With the experience he gained from working with these artists, attending workshops with other glass artists, as well as working at studios in Madison, WI, Michael decided to start his own glass studio.
In early 2002, Michael moved Foci Glass to Minneapolis into the 2010 Building. Michael shared his vision of a community glass studio with Lucinda Silvis, now a Foci MCGA board member, whom Michael had met at the Uptown Art Fair. Lucinda visited his new studio in Minneapolis and asked if she could share the space with him. After accepting her request, other glass artists seemed to come out of nowhere, wondering if they could also share the studio.
In addition to Lucinda, Andrew Thompson and Todd Cameron (both current Foci MCGA studio managers) were three of the first renters to use the studio. As more and more people came, it became obvious that Foci Glass needed to expand. In 2005, the studio was moved to its current location, in Building 10 of the 2010 Building.
The small glass community suddenly had a lot of space to fill (and pay for) and they decided they needed to grow. In order to build the foundation of a community, they decided they should teach glass blowing from the ground up and soon, Foci Glass began offering glassblowing classes to the public. In addition to teaching classes, Michael has taken on many mentees over the years, including at-risk youth who wouldn't have the opportunity to engage in this more expensive art form. Glassblowing changed Michaerl's life when he was a teenager and he continues to pass on the gift to other youth.
As the community grew, so did the facility. In 2009, Foci Glass transformed into Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts. Foci transitioned from a for-profit company to a non-profit education based organization. Since the successful application and receipt of 501(c)(3) status, Foci MCGA has received grants to help foster the Visiting Artist Workshop program as well as fund equipment improvements.
The list of classes that Foci MCGA offers has grown and now includes glass kiln casting, sand casting, fusing and stained glass. Since the transition into education, Foci MCGA has steadily grown into Minnesota's only non-profit, community glass studio and school.
Today, Foci MCGA is an active, vibrant organization with a passionate growing membership. Foci MCGA has a solid professional artist community and an ever-growing, eager student population.
We hope you become a part of the Foci MCGA community by taking a class, stopping in for a demonstration during an event, and becoming a member. We look forward to sharing our passion for the glass arts with you now, and into the future.
Using Studio Molds
Price: FREE
Watch as the various studio molds are used to create patterns in molten glass, taking form into the final piece.
Steve Claypatch & Craig Campbell will bring you through tips and techniques you need to know to give it a try yourself!
June 22, 2011 6-7pm
Color Techniques in Paperweights
Learn different ways to apply color and create designs in your paperweights.
July 20, 2011 6-7pm
Using Bits
Aug 17, 2011 6-7 pm
Learn the valuable skill set of enhancing your glass creations using our cold shop equipment. Try your hand at sandblasting, grinding and more. Register for this orientation to familiarize yourself with the cold shop equipment.
(Required before working in cold shop)
Orientation is held the 2nd Monday of each month, from 6-7 pm.
