WheatonArts — Attraction in Millville

What a GREAT weekend. After being fascinated by art glass for most of my life, I finally took the step from being a spectator to being a glass artist. Okay, I had a lot of help from Kendall, but in a few days, I'll have two pieces and I can call a joint collaboration. And thanks to my wife for supporting me and taking some great photos!

Wheaton Arts offers a series of Make Your Own sessions, and I did the Ornament and Paperweight ones on Saturday, November 5th. I get to pick the pieces up this weekend after they cool gently in an annealing furnace.

First, Wheaton Arts is simply great. But the glassworks area is phenomenal. Second, the staff are awesome (big shoutout to Kendall!!!). She was professional, knowledgeable, courteous, helpful, and fun to work with!!! She provided just enough guidance to keep you safe and sound, yet create a piece (in my case, two pieces), from YOUR vision.

A glass studio is incredible enough to visit and watch the professionals at work. But to be able to actually work with glass is an 'oh wow' moment that is just awesome to visit.

The grounds are perfect for a walk, the shops and museum are fun to visit, and the working studios (ceramics, flamework, and glass) are top notch with periodic demonstrations throughout the day.

Highly recommend it for a visit. BUT if you have any interest in art glass, I strongly encourage you to do one of its Make Your Own Experiences. I chose the Paperweight Experience since you use one of their antique molds - how cool is that! And it being the holidays, I went for two with classic glass ornament. They'll match too since I used cobalt and Iris gold as the colors to make them a set.

I'll post some photos of the finished pieces once I pick them up...can't wait! Until then, here are some of Wheaton Arts Glass Studio and a couple of my 'in process' paperweight...

This place takes longer to tour than we thought. My wife and I went here on Thursday at 1pm but didn't get to see the artists making pottery or glass. Parking is free and a bit of a walk. Then the ticket booth is right at the gate, you're given a map and sticker. The bathroom is the first building to the right of the ticket booth which is necessary after a long drive. There's one handicap stall, 3 additional stalls, a baby changing table and it is immaculate in there. We then walked the grounds and picked the first main building to tour. It was the main museum that shows glass in the order it was manufactured. This building has such fine details and was modeled after a gentlemen's club by the shore (I forgot what the nice lady that greets you when you come in said exactly). My favorite piece was the library and my wife's was a plate with birds painted on it. My wife was also smitten with the ladies restroom in this building so she showed me photos and I went into the mens and it was plain lol. We had some time to check out the artists making pottery and the 3 people in there were very nice and encourage you to ask questions about their process. It's a very unique place and we will be returning because we need more time to...

My husband and I were recently married at Wheaton Arts! After a global disaster that shall remain nameless, my husband I had to postpone our original wedding date by an entire year. The staff at Wheaton were so incredibly kind and understanding, and very graciously allowed us to reschedule at no extra cost—of which was extremely reasonable—or concern. Though the aforementioned 😷 global disaster 😷 really took a toll on Wheaton, they were able to save our special day and allowed us to have our dream wedding on the beautiful property, just as we imagined. Lori Johns, Patti Moran, and maintenance man Jimmy were absolute ANGELS, making sure we had everything we needed and keeping us updated of any and all mandates and changes as this crazy year unfolded. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, or a more perfect venue. These people went out of their way to ensure our wedding went perfectly. The property is BEAUTIFUL, as the grounds of Wheaton are home to the Museum of American Glass, an infamous glassblowing studio, and shops that hold beautiful glass pieces sure to enrapture. I cannot recommend them enough. What a beautiful place, with even more beautiful people running...