Current and Past Grant Recipients

The PCA has a vision and a mission to educate members and the public about glass paperweights. One mechanism for doing this is to sponsor grants in various areas such as scholarship grants to Registered PCA Artists so they can advance their skills and experiment with new techniques. Another is to encourage museums and other groups and individuals to take on projects that create new research and information, create exhibits, and digitize previous and new information to make it more widely available across the world.

These are the artists and projects sponsored with the generous gifts from donors. If you are interested in donating to the Grants Program please click here. 

If you have an idea or a project that advances the PCA's mission please submit an application here.

2023 Grant to Appalachia Center for Craft - Lampworking Facility

The gift of stainless steel tables to the Appalachian Center for Craft Lampworking Facility provides the equipment necessary for hands-on glassmaking experiences for students interested in glass. The Appalachian Center for Craft is a satellite campus of Tennessee Tech University. Among the programs offered are a High School outreach program open to students in schools across middle Tennessee, BFA and BS degree program students at Tennessee Tech. In addition, members of the public are also invited to participate in workshops offered throughout the year in this facility. 

PCA Artist member, Damon MacNaught, requested this grant and oversaw its implementation. He is instrumental in making the new lampworking facility at the Appalachian Center for Craft a permanent home where students can learn various paperweight techniques and explore hotglass.

 

2023 Grant to the Historical Glass Museum in Redlands, California

The PCA Grants Committee is pleased to announce a new grant recipient, the Historical Glass Museum located in Redlands, California.

Kathi Jablonsky, Volunteer Museum Inventory Coordinator, submitted the successful grant application detailing the Museum's plan to update the inventory of paperweights owned by the museum for the first time in a decade. This inventory update includes putting data into an online program, labeling each object, and photographing each item for the first time. The Museum’s collection of about 150 paperweights represents American glass paperweights. The plan is to expose this collection to the broader public by publishing the inventory online when it is complete. The grant allows the Historical Glass Museum to purchase labeling materials and a subscription to CatalogIt database to accomplish the inventory.

The Historical Glass Museum is an all-volunteer organization which accepts donations of American-made glass for the Museum permanent collection, items designated to be sold in the Museum gift shop, and also duplicate and excess items which are also sold in the gift shop to support the Museum’s ongoing expenses.

Should you be in the Inland Empire region of California, visit the Historical Glass Museum at 1157 N. Orange Street in Redlands; open weekends from noon to 4:00pm. Please learn more about the Historical Glass Museum by reading their newsletter published on their website. http://historicalglassmuseum.com

 

 2022 Grant to Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass

In April 2022 the PCA granted Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass funds to buy glass blowing tools to use with their Glass Studio’s new portable mini-dragon glass furnace. The tools include blow pipes, punties, jacks, shears, molds, and paddles. The first public use of the new tools was in May 2022, during the PCA’s convention.

The new tools allow the Glass Studio to engage the community through public glass blowing demonstrations, teach classes on glass blowing and paperweight making, and promote the magic of making art with glass blowing and sculpting techniques. These purchases and their use fulfill the PCA’s goals to further advance knowledge and appreciation of paperweights and advance educational opportunities.

Pictured here is Studio Manager Taylor Moeller-Roy and Kourtney Kositzke, Education and Community Program Manager, using some of the tools.

 2022 Grant to Clinton Smith

Clinton Smith applied for a PCA grant to develop a better understanding and knowledge of creating hollow forms on the torch. The course he enrolled in at Snow Farm-The New England Craft Program was titled “Flameworked Goblets as a Tool for Growth”.
Clinton’s instructor, Eric Goldschmidt, held the position of Resident Flameworker at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass for 6 years. Now, as Supervisor of Properties of Glass Programs at Corning, he develops demonstrations to educate, visitors to the museum. We are so happy that Clinton was able to have this experience to help develop a new technical skill creating hollow forms with a boro glass; a glass he was not familiar with using in his day-to-day work.
The class spanned 3 days and Clinton describes the days in his article for the April 2023 PCA Newsletter as follows:
Once I chose a work station, I began preparing for the day. While setting up, five other students and Eric made their way in. After introducing ourselves Eric started his first demo of pulling points which are like mini glass blow pipes. I spent most of my first day practicing my points. Trying to get them to be on center and straight was a challenge. Working with the large boro glass tubing was a challenge as well. I am used to working on a much smaller scale.�
On the second day of class Eric demonstrated several complete goblets with various shaped cups and feet. He made it look easy. I would spend my day focusing on making cups. At first, they were very off center and funky, but by the end of the day there was greater improvement. The cups I made were all on the small side, about twice the size of a shot glass. I had quite the pile of them by the end of the day.
The third and final day of class had arrived and it was to be the shortest day. Eric would spend the morning demoing more forms and I spent a bit more time making cups. By late morning I was ready to try making feet to go along with my cups. I saved this for last as I anticipated spinning out feet would be the hardest part. After a few attempts, I had a couple that I was happy with. We had a little time left in the afternoon so I decided to use my sculpting abilities to make a couple of stems to go with my cups and feet.
Eric Goldschmidt, on Glass faculty at Snow Farm - New England Craft Program Blown Vessels by Clinton Smith
Click Here to Make a Donation

Donations to the PCA Grants Program make it possible to provide opportunities like this one to expose lesser-known collections to the public. If you are interested in donating to the grants program, do so by visiting https://paperweight.org and clicking on the Grants Program tab.

The Grants Committee is looking for new leadership and members. If you are interested in participating in reviewing grant applications and helping advance the PCA mission, let PCA President Gordon Park know by emailing [email protected]