Chrysler Museum Glass Studio — Attraction in Norfolk

The prompt here on Google says, “Share details of your own experience at this place.“ But I find it difficult to do that using words.

I know that’s super cliché – but, as many artists know, and any human being who appreciates art in general – it really does tend to be true. Like the adage, A picture is worth a thousand words. Well in this case, it’s more like, an •experience• is worth a thousand words. The Chrysler Museum Glass Studio (also named the Perry Glass Studio) is completely remarkable, but you have to really be there and immerse yourself in it to understand what I mean. I just took another glassblowing course over the weekend, and it’s truly hard to describe. Getting 2000°F molten glass out of a huge vat and getting it to temporarily adhere to your iron rod (a process called “gathering“) is so exhilarating … and then manipulating the hot glass in various ways is even more satisfying.

But most importantly, it’s the people. The •people• make the Perry Glass Studio. Robert is a fantastic manager for all the many logistical things that come along with helping to run a place like this. And for my particular weekend course we happened to have an instructor named Karl – along with a handful of other instructors, Cody, Phaedra, and Nelly – all of whom were fantastic. Karl in particular seems like he lives & breathes glassblowing. He makes it look SO easy, Lol … i and the other students were so envious of his aptitude. (Then again, he’s been doing it for over a decade.) Yet the most important aspect of his dynamic with us was his actual instruction. A lot of people are extremely skilled at what they do but have a hard time articulating it to other individuals in the process of teaching. Karl isn’t that way at all; in fact he’s quite the opposite. He is such an incredibly articulate person. (Hey I’ve never thought about this before, but I love how the word “art“ is in the word articulate.) Karl is so warm, patient, adept at being able to teach as I mentioned … all with an amazing sense of humor to boot.

I really can’t recommend the Perry Glass Studio enough. No wonder it’s earned its reputation across the nation as a premier glassblowing...

Edit: we picked up our flowers, so I added photos! 😊

My partner signed us up for the Colorful Botanicals class where you get to make flowers. It was a challenging but really cool class. We learned a lot about how you work with glass and all of the really cool things you can do with it. Kole was our instructor and they were super sweet and patient, and you could tell that they really love glasswork and they want you to enjoy it too.

My partner and I each made a clear and a colorful flower. We haven't picked the finished flowers up yet, and the class really requires both hands and your brain to be involved in what you're doing 😆, but I managed to take some photos of the petals we were making while in class and record a few seconds of using the torch to melt the glass down.

Everyone we encountered at the glass studio was really kind and grounded. They are encouraging and supportive of anyone wanting to learn glasswork at any age. You can tell that they want to share what they love with you and they want you to have a good time. If glasswork is something you're interested in and you've been wondering or nervous about how to get started, I highly recommend taking a class here.

They also have free demonstrations on certain days/times, which are super cool to watch. Altogether, it's a great place to hang out and one of...

Wonderful friendly staff and amazing facility! We were on Virginia Beach for vacation and wanted to do something different. So happy we stumbled upon this glass studio and decided to end our vacation by taking a class to make a jelly fish paper weight. Karl, the instructor, and Alex, the teaching assistant, made this a wonderful experience for my boys. We had a great time and created beautiful pieces. I wish we came earlier in the week so we could bring the pieces home with us but they will be shipped....