On a hot Friday afternoon in Providence, a group of students gather near a furnace, sweating while their professor teaches. The professor retrieves molten glass, glowing orange on the end of the iron rod, and quickly begins to roll and shape the material, losing no time as it hardens more and more each second. He does none of this alone, though - at least two students help him each time he takes the glass out of the furnace.
One of the Rhode Island School of Design's smaller departments, the Department of Glass consists of 33 undergraduate and graduate students. Housed in RISD's Metcalf Building at the corner of North Main and Waterman streets, the department is home to a half-ton continuous melt furnace, diamond saws, sandblasting machines and studio space for upper-level students.
Glass professor Rachel Berwick, who became head of the department this year, says her goal is to "teach glass as a sculptural medium" and give students a solid foundation in the art. A student must be dedicated and focused, Berwick says, because glass art is done primarily through trial and error and because the medium is so fragile. Berwick received her bachelor's degree in glass at RISD and continued her education at Yale, studying sculpture.Glass students are required to take technical glass work classes, such as glassblowing, cold-working or casting and mold making, paired with yearlong studio courses. The studio courses allow students to use and develop the skills they learn though problem-solving assignments, critiques and lectures.
Though small, the glass department is growing. Last year, there were no seniors in the program, but this year 11 sophomores have joined. Still, only six students can blow glass at one time - a relatively large number in terms of glass-working facilities, but also a limiting one in terms of the program's capacity for growth.
Students don't complain, though - most enjoy the closeness fostered by the department's size.
"I don't want to be in a big department," said Emily Segal, a RISD sophomore. In the glass department, "everyone knows each other," she added.
"Relationships between people are much more intense than in other departments," said Yuka Otani, a third-year graduate student at RISD.
When asked what she plans to do after RISD, Otani said, "I am very interested in teaching. I have some background in working for a museum, so that is a possible place I could fit into."
As part of its robust visiting artists program, the department hosts up to six artists each year to lecture, host workshops and participate in studio critiques. This year, one of the department's visiting artists is RISD alum Bohyun Yoon, who will stay on campus for the entire academic year to teach two courses.
"I try to break away from the conventional view of glass as something beautiful, fragile and delicate. I try to see glass from a different angle," Yoon told glass students in a lecture last week.
Yoon has done many projects that involve the unique characteristics of glass, such as its acoustic properties. He also explores body image and how it is shaped and affected by culture and media, a theme that is apparent in his use of glass, mirrors and the nude figure in many of his pieces.
