Pittsburgh Glass Center ready to embark on $15M expansion
Metaphorically speaking, this center is preparing to break its glass ceiling.
More than two decades after first opening, the Pittsburgh Glass Center is about to embark on a $15 million expansion that will nearly double its space and help build its student and visitor population.
The work involves the construction of an addition and a third floor to the center’s existing building at 5472 Penn Ave. in Friendship. It will increase the size of the 16,000square- foot facility by 11,000 square feet.
In addition, the center plans to renovate a second building it owns two blocks away at 5431 Penn Ave. in Garfield to provide more housing for visiting artists and technical apprentices and to create more gallery space for emerging artists and community programming.
The center plans to begin construction next month, with a groundbreaking scheduled March 23. The expansion has been in the works since 2018.
“It seems like we’ve been planning forever. It’s exciting to finally get started,” said Paige Ilkhanipour, marketing director.
Pittsburgh Glass Center is hoping the additional space will allow it to more than double the number of visitors each year and expand its student base from 9,500 to 12,000 people.
Among the improvements, three existing glassmaking studios will get more space and two new ones will be built. Included in the enhancements will be another hot shop where glass is blown as well as a fabrication lab for 3D printing and other new technology.
The expansion also will include a retail store where artists can sell their work and an outdoor deck that can double as an overflow area during glassblowing demonstrations.
four-bedroom townhouse.
Since 2001, the center has Renovations at the Garfield offered glassmaking classes, location include new studio space for glass artists exhibition space for students, and gallery space. Anyone emerging artists and from ages 5 and up can take local nonprofits. Five more classes, with training available bedrooms will be added to for everyone from novices house apprentices and visiting to advanced artists.
B2C_Generic_10.25x9.79.pdf artists. They will supplement The center has gone from the center’s existing serving 187 students in 2002 to more than 9,500 in 2022.
Last year alone, 39,000 people attended public tours, teen programs, classes, open houses and community events at the center. It also offered more than 700 classes and workshops and provided more than 4,800 hours of studio time to professional artists and students.
The center estimated that it has attracted more than 55 artists to live and work in Pittsburgh since its inception and has trained and developed hundreds of local artists.
“Artists find Pittsburgh to be a great place to live and an affordable place to live. It’s so collaborative and welcoming here,” Ms. Ilkhanipour said.
But as interest in glass making and glassblowing has increased, the center has become more cramped for space. It is hoping the expansion will help address that.
So far, the center has raised $11 million of the $15 million needed to cover the cost of the expansion through government funding and donations from foundations and individuals. It is hoping to complete the construction in summer 2024.
For the groundbreaking, center officials are planning to pour molten glass from a second floor window into a prepared space in the parking lot. It’s meant to symbolize the laying of a new foundation.
The center tried the same pour once before and was thrilled with the way it turned out.
“Hopefully, this time it will be just as spectacular,” Ms. Ilkhanipour said.