(Pictured: Artist Photo of Jason Christian in Pratt's Hot Shop)

Check this page often for free, Pratt-hosted Master Artist talks & artist demonstrations throughout the year! All ages welcome, free parking is available on Pratt's campus, and RSVPs not required though highly encouraged. Funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and 4Culture.

                    


Upcoming Master Artist Talks & Demos


Master Glass Artist and Blacksmith, Max Grossman:  Making, Modifying, and Maintaining Glassblowing Tools 
Monday-Friday, October 6-10, 2025

Designed for intermediate / advanced glassblowers and metalworkers, this workshop focuses on how to make your own glass-blowing tools using simple materials, found objects, and equipment you might already have in your studio. Students will start with a simple forged caliper and finish with a project of their choice like a tag, tweezers, crimps, raking tools, etc. Along the way, students will also learn how to sharpen, clean, and modify existing tools to better fit their individual needs. Students can expect to learn basic forging, finishing, and metal fabrication techniques, focused around the needs of the glass studio. This workshop emphasizes the development of practical skills and encourages the creativity to use them by bringing new life to old objects and making useful tools from scratch and scraps.

The last day of class will involve time in the hot shop to try out your new tools.

Lunch will be provided on class days, please alert Pratt to any dietary needs or restrictions.

About Max Grossman:
Max Grossman is an LA based blacksmith, glass artist, resurrector of antique tools and machines, and maker of fine glassblowing tools.

Register here!
 

Master Metalworker and Furniture Maker, Sophie Glenn: Fine Fabrication, Forming, and Finishes
Monday-Friday, October 13-17, 2025


In this class, we'll use the creation of small lidded boxes as a way to learn techniques for precise layout, sheet metal forming, and fine finish work. We'll start with making paper templates of our designs, and then we'll cut, score, and bend sheet steel to create our forms using a variety of tools. We'll then use MIG and TIG welders to join everything together, and use angle grinders and sanders to prep the surfaces for finish. Finally, we'll explore patinas and other finishes that we'll make our boxes uniquely our own.

Required Experience: None

Supply Fee: $100

Note: this class provides a lunch during class days

About Sophie Glenn:
Sophie is a metalworker and furniture maker currently based in Reading, PA. She makes classic furniture designs recreated out of steel to give voice to women in both the woodworking and metal fields, and she utilizes steel in the making of her work to explicitly expand upon the materials that are considered to be part of the fine furniture making field.

Sophie received her MFA in Furniture Design and Woodworking from San Diego State University, and BFA in Sculpture and Drawing from SUNY Purchase College. She has exhibited her work across the country, including Blue Spiral 1 Gallery (NC), the Center for Art in Wood (PA), and the Metal Museum (TN), and has been fortunate to receive several grants, fellowships, and residencies to help advance her career, including the John D. Mineck Fellowship in 2022.  Sophie currently teaches at Kutztown University, and has taught workshops at A Workshop of Our Own, Penland School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the Appalachian Center for Craft, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. 

Register here!

 


Past Master Artist Talks & Demos: