Day 6

Pittsburgh GlassCenter

·        Co-Founding Artists of the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Kathleen Mulcahy and Ron Desmett, shared a vision in the early 1990's—to create an innovative glass art center that would transform our city.

·        Today, it is one of the top glass art facilities in the United States helping the city connect to its creative future through the innovative use of glass as art.

Assignment: Think about the terms “blowing glass.”  What do you think it means?

Journal: What is the point of blowing glass in this picture? Is he blowing pretty hard? Why? What would happen if he blew too hard? Think about the young “blower dogs” article that we read off of my blog. Think about younger students then you working long, hot hours in a glass factory. Research what laws came from these labor laws in glass companies.

Day 5

CarnegieMuseums

• The Carnegie Museums of today is a lot different than the Carnegie Museums founded by Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1895.
• Today, they are a collection of four creative, inspiring, thought-provoking places of exploration: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum.

Assignment: Even though Carnegie Museum is in Pittsburgh and not WV…think about how that can affect our state in the glass industry (good/bad).

Journal: What if a compny makes items out of wood. Based off of our unit last year on the different kinds of trees and what wood makes better furniture, knick-knacks…etc.? Keep in mind what part of the Appalachian Mountains Carnegie Museum is located. What if these wood pieces were made right here in Pittsburgh?

StationSquare

• In 1873, the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) was first chartered and in 1877, construction began on a rail line connecting Pittsburgh to Youngstown.
• After 19 years of developing Station Square, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation sold the property to developer Forest City Enterprises in 1994.
•  In 2002, Forest City completed a 100 room expansion to the Sheraton Hotel and added the Bessemer Court entertainment district.
• Station Square is Pittsburgh’s premier dining and entertainment destination with unique specialty shops.

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  Assignments: Think about how railroads played a part in glass making. We talked about last year how much railroads played a part in the timber industry.
  
  
  Journal: Research how the railroad helped or hindered Pittsburg and the glass making industry.

Day 4

Mosser Glass Inc.

• Thomas Mosser was the starter of Mosser Glass Inc.
• The first production of glass was started in 1959 using chicken wire.
• The company started out making glassware for pharmaceutical companies.
• 1971 was when the Mosser Glass Inc. company gained a name.
• Today they employee over 30 employees.
• It is a family owned company and is sill operate by family today.

Assignment: Think about production of glass in WV. This company is placed in WV. However, their moulds are made in WV. 

Journal: Most of the glass production in the tri-state area (WV, OH, PA) is mainly dependent on WV to make their product. Why is this? WV is usually known for their coal industry. However, in this area...glass is the main production and and tourist attraction. If there are so many glass companies in this area...why do tourist try and hit every company in the area? What makes each company different? Make sure that you look at the pictures and compare and contrast the different areas.

Pictures

Along with my blogs below. Don't forget to check out my pictures. They might help you with some of your assignments. :)

Glass and Ceramics Pictures

Day 3

Homer Laughlin

•  Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin, two brothers from East Liverpool, Ohio, formed a partnership in 1871 to sell pottery ware, which was made in the factories located in their hometown.
•   The Laughlin’s offered to sell the business to Mr. Wells and a financial partner, Louis I. Aaron of Pittsburgh.
• The sale was consummated on December 7, 1897.
• With Fiesta leading the way, The Homer Laughlin China Company continued to flourish until the onset of World War II.
• Homer Laughlin was preparing to enter the new millennium as the industry leader in both the foodservice and retail businesses
• He rebuilt the whole company with new technology and state-of-the-art equipment.
• American-made china and provide jobs for potters of the Ohio Valley.

Assignments: Think about the different jobs that pottery/glass making requires. You can look at my pictures to jog your memory.

Journal: Having all American-made pottery is something to take pride in according to most Americans. What are the perks of having American-made pottery? Compare this to pottery that is made in China or outside of the USA. Please list any websites that you might use to check out other pieces of pottery outside of the USA.

Rock Candy

This is a video from Paul Wissmach Glass Company. View the video and just observe the process.

IMG 0282 from Carla Snell on Vimeo.

Now that you watched the video. List the steps that you saw. You can have as many as you would like...just be thorough. (Example: Step 1- ...., Step 2-....)

After you list the steps that it took for stained glass. Now, list the steps for making rock candy. You may google this information if necessary...but list your sources (websites).

Answer these questions too:
1. How is stained glass and rock candy related?
2. Why do we even need to compare the two?
3. Think about the chemical make-up or recipe for both process...how are they related?

Robin the Spectacular

IMG 0207 from Carla Snell on Vimeo.

This lady named Robin has worked at Fenton Glass for over 30 years. She hand paints everything and is well known in the area for her creative art work.

Students: On this piece right here she is painting an "under the sea" theme with dolphins and such. What is the significance of a hand painted vase versus a vase that was painted by a machine? Why are the prices so different? Also, why is a piece from China much cheaper then a piece made right here in WV?