Gitlitz strives for glass center

Bloomington Creative Glass Center Director Abby Gitlitz spends her days around 2,000 degrees of hot glass, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Gitlitz started the Bloomington Creative Glass Center four years ago. It was born from her love of glass and the lack of glass art centers in southern Indiana.

“There’s no glass education in southern Indiana,” Gitlitz said. “If you want to learn about glass blowing you have to go to Indianapolis or Louisville. My idea was to start a place for glass blowing education.”

However, Gitlitz’s dream to start an educational center for glass blowing requires a fund between $60,000 and $100,000 for all the facilities and equipment necessary for a glass center.

To earn this money, Gitlitz’s started a fundraiser based in glass blowing.

The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch is not only a yearly fundraiser to raise money for constructing the Bloomington Creative Glass Center, but it is also a place to learn about glass blowing.

“It’s essentially an apprenticeship program where people learn as they’re working on the pumpkins,” Gitlitz said.

The glass pumpkins take anywhere from five to 45 minutes to create and require at least two people.

The beginners work on shaping the pumpkin stem while the more advanced glass blowers construct the body of the pumpkin and add coloring.

The pumpkins are then sold, and the proceeds go to the Bloomington Creative Glass Center.

“In the future, we have ideas for other fundraisers, but they require having a facility to hold the equipment,” Gitlitz said. “The biggest thing right now is applying for 501(c)(3) status to become tax exempt, then we can apply for grants.”

Currently, the only fundraiser is the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. The Bloomington Creative Glass Center is expected to be up and running in about a year and a half.

There is a motive to volunteer for the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, Gitlitz said.

Once a person volunteers four times, they receive a free lesson in glass blowing, an opportunity that normally costs $60.

At the free classes, the volunteers start out making paperweights and ornaments, but the more they volunteer, the more opportunities they have to move up in their glass classes.

After paperweights come cups and vases.

“We are really interested in reaching out to the community, like working with schools, boys and girls clubs, and more,” Gitlitz said. “I want to make glass something everybody can do and really making that available is important.”
Gitlitz said she has big plans for the glass center.

She is planning on offering classes and renting out facilities to experienced artists.
She also hopes to host large events such as wedding showers.

“Glass blowing is beautiful, challenging, interesting and a little dangerous for the adrenaline junkies out there,” Gitlitz said. “I think any form of art enriches the community. It will make Bloomington a better place to have more art here.”

Follow reporter Anna Skinner on Twitter @annaskinner18.