GOOD FINDS
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY LAURA CHIRSTMAN
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Shop THE GLASS PROGRAM AT S H A S TA C O L L E G E
A 1,500-DEGREE GLOB of glowing glass can be transformed into something of function and beauty – a vase, tumbler, bowl. Then again, it might flop to the floor and end up a bungled blob. Working with molten glass is tricky. Shasta College in Redding teaches hot-glass skills through a unique program that goes back 50 years. Its longevity is matched by only one other California community college glass program. Shasta College offers three glass classes: beginning glass, glass blowing and sculptural glass. Students reflect a mix of ages and interests. Some pursue glass skills as part of a degree or career plan, others as a hobby. Kayla Gitchel enrolled at Shasta College after high school with no specific educational goal. A friend talked her into taking a glass class. “My first dip in the furnace, I was sold,” she says. “It is so challenging.” After earning her associate’s degree, Gitchel transferred to Chico State University where she’s in her third semester working toward a bachelor’s degree in studio art with an emphasis in glass art. She plans to build on that with a master of fine arts. “I really want to teach,” she says. Shasta College nursing student Aida Kowalski took a glass class as an elective because it sounded fun. “It’s a lot harder than I thought. There’s a lot of problem-solving. You have to think fast. Once it clicks, it’s the best feeling ever.” Robbie Ednilao, a high school sophomore taking the class as part of an independent study program, likes learning “exactly what the glass4 continued on page 60
“It’s mesmerizing,” Gentry says. “It’s like a dance. You are timing everything. It has to go from the right place at the right time.”
MARCH 2020
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