Food & Culture

PNW Glass Artists Come Together to Showcase Works

'Refract' programming includes online events by Pilchuck Glass School and Pike Place Market

By Nat Rubio-Licht September 29, 2020

Credit_-Chihuly-Garden-and-Glass-1


Pacific Northwest artists and art organizations are coming together to showcase their work through a four-day glass arts festival. 

More than 25 glass artists, studios and organizations have joined forces to host Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience,” featuring both in-person and virtual events from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18. “Refract” programming includes online events by Pilchuck Glass School and Pike Place Market, and a socially distanced happy hour and demonstration.

The event will also include in-person tours at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and shows at Stonington Gallery, Gallery Mack, Traver Gallery and Vetri. Lino Tagliapietra, a Seattle-based glass artist with 70 years of experience, has opened his showroom for limited in-person tours. 

Glass blowing demonstrations with more than a dozen artists and organizations will give in-person and online viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how artists create works from molten glass. 

“Artists, galleries, and collectors have developed new ways to connect and share their love of glass,” says Brandi Clark, executive director of Seattle-based Glass Art Society. “The changes are breaking down traditional physical barriers, making glass more accessible and opening up possibilities to connect with artists directly or discover new talent.”

Join The Must List

Sign up and get Seattle's best events delivered to your inbox every week.

Follow Us

Arts: Seattle's Rap Party

Arts: Seattle’s Rap Party

The sound that is now defining Seattle

Seattle has never wanted to be cool — and that’s precisely what makes it so. When the grunge movement of the ’90s sprung to the forefront of mainstream American culture, Kurt Cobain’s ripped jeans and thrifted cardigans did so in direct opposition to perfectly over-tweezed eyebrows and super-synchronized boy bands. As Clark Humphrey writes in…

Book: A tribute to  Northwest Films

Book: A tribute to Northwest Films

New book details a thriving, rich film culture

David Schmader lives in El Paso, Texas, now, but he’s no stranger to Pacific Northwest culture. Schmader is a former staff writer and editor at Seattle alt publication The Stranger, where he wrote the popular column, “Last Days: The Week in Review” for 18 years. He is also a performer, and his solo plays were…

What this year's Seattle-based SIFF films say about our changing city

What this year’s Seattle-based SIFF films say about our changing city

Seattle may have parted from grunge, but self-expression in spite of convention remains a local state of mind

Seattle may change, but at its core, it will always be that angsty 90’s kid. This year’s Seattle International Film Festival’s (SIFF) lineup of Northwest-centered films presents a reflection of our city from past to present. Over the years, the ongoing conversations about the changing face of Seattle have permeated all industries from tech to…

Arts: Seattle's Architect of Light

Arts: Seattle’s Architect of Light

Italian-born artist Iole Alessandrini explores the beauty and emotional impact of working with light

How many colors do you see?” Artist and architect Iole Alessandrini asks me this on a cold, windy evening in late February. We’re sitting in an attic-like nook in her apartment at West Seattle’s Cooper Artist Housing, a 36-unit former school that has been transformed into an affordable live/work space specifically for artists. I’m looking…