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Learn to Make Stained Glass at the Stifel Fine Arts Center

By Laura Jackson Roberts

I don’t know what the rest of you do on Thursday evenings, but I usually work on laundry, my never-quite-finished book, and a glass of wine. It’s usually a quiet night. Yet while we are at home preparing for our final workday of the week, a handful of intrepid artists are making their way down into the basement of Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling for the weekly stained glass class. On this particular Thursday, I’m going to be observing them.

As I walk over to the Stifel Fine Arts Center, I realize that I have no idea what I’m about to see. I certainly take the time to admire the stained glass in church windows, and there’s a lovely window at my dad’s office, too. There’s nothing so beautiful as a stained glass window when the sun hits it at just the right angle and the colors glow vibrantly, revealing textures and streaks of color that change with the angle of viewing.

So, this opportunity to see the process of how it’s made is really fascinating. Normally, I’d put on my Bumbling Artist hat and take the class myself. Truth be told, though, I feel a little intimidated by this particular art form (it’s one thing to bumble at wreath-making but quite another to bumble with shards of glass), so I’m just dropping in to watch.

Learn for Expert Instructors

Howard Gamble has been teaching the stained glass class for many years. When he’s not working at the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, he’s creating and teaching others. He began as a student in this very studio. When the resident stained glass teacher moved on, he took over as the instructor. His work is currently on display at the Art Works Around Town gallery in the Centre Market. As soon as I see him pick up a piece of glass I can tell he’s done it hundreds of times.

Learn to Make Stained Glass at the Stifel Fine Arts Center

Get Step-by-Step Instruction

The art of stained glassmaking is over a thousand years old. During its manufacture, various metallic salts are added to the glass to achieve different colors. Fortunately for the students in the class, colored glass is already waiting for them; nobody has to do any glassmaking. (If you are interested in glassmaking, however, there’s a class for that at the Oglebay Institute’s Glass Museum.)

I sit beside Anita Boston, a new student, and listen in as Howard teaches her the basics. It seems pretty simple. Pick a pattern, choose the colored glass, cut and assemble the glass, solder it together, hang it in a window.

He demonstrates how to cut the glass, and it’s not what I expected. He uses a sharp tool to create a scratch along the surface and a pair of specialized pliers to snap off the intended piece. It takes some practice to learn how to make an accurate cut, but when Anita breaks it off, it breaks cleanly every time.

Right away I do the tacky thing and ask Howard if anybody has ever sliced an artery in his class. He laughs and says no, just an occasional nick. He also advises Anita to choose a pattern that’s small and manageable, since the class is only eight weeks long. She finds a calla lily pattern.

Let Your Imagination Soar

Behind me, Jeff Whiteman is working on an abstract piece. It’s a rectangle consisting of different strips of colored glass. He goes back and forth about the colors, eventually picking clear, red, and mossy green. This is the second time he’s taken the class, so he has a little bit of experience in knowing how the process works.

“It’s kind of like putting a puzzle together,” he tells me as he turns the red glass around and around, trying to decide if he wants the streaks of color to run horizontally or vertically.

Learn to Make Stained Glass at the Stifel Fine Arts Center

After the glass has been assembled in the chosen pattern, the artists grind the pieces to create a snug fit when they are soldered. Howard teaches the students the copper foil method. Both Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Comfort Tiffany (yes, the lamp guy) used this method.

Beside me, Anita is learning to use the pistol grip glasscutter. The sound makes me think of fingernails on a chalkboard, and I cringe, but Howard says, “That’s the sound you want to hear!”

“It’s fun,” she tells me. “I see myself doing this for a while.”

Build Skills at Your Own Pace

Howard shows me a few projects that are nearing completion, including a lovely pineapple piece and a pair of 3D Christmas ornaments. I’m starting to feel terribly envious, and wish I’d had the guts to sign up for the whole eight weeks.

Howard says he always has students who are eager and talented, and many of them come back for another session.

I like the informality of the evening, the constant chit-chat and encouragement between artists. Some have chosen a geometric pattern, some a more fluid and abstract piece. One student is working on a sea turtle.

Enjoy a Supportive Learning Environment

Hands-on art has always been difficult for me. But I see right away that this is a judgment-free zone. As with all of Oglebay Institute’s classes, stained glass students are free to take their projects in whatever direction suits them. I may be a bumbling artist, but this is one class I think I would enjoy, whether or not I turn out to be a secret stained glass genius.

Enroll in the Stained Glass Class

Stained Glass Class meets on Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. The spring session begins March 23 and meets once a week for eight weeks.  Students pay $120, which includes all instruction, tools and materials.  Members of Oglebay Institute receive a 15 percent discount.  Register online or by calling 304-242-7700.

Visit the Ohio Valley’s Premier Public Arts Center

Housed in the historic Edemar Mansion,  Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling is a treasure trove for artistic expression and personal fulfillment.  With galleries, classrooms and performance space, the Stifel Center engages the community in creative pursuits.

Stifel Fine Arts Center

Classes for All Ages and Interests

The Ohio valley’s premiere venue for art education, the Stifel Fine Arts Center offers a variety of classes in traditional and non-traditional mediums. People of all ages, interests and skill levels can take classes at the Stifel Fine Arts Center. Students work with up-to-date equipment and supplies. You’ll receive guidance from expert instructors in a relaxed and creatively stimulating environment.

Some of the spring offerings include drawing, painting, furniture refinishing, jewelry making, knitting, photo editing, quilting, pottery and woodcarving.  Classes begin the week of March 19.  See the complete schedule at OIonline.com.

Roots ‘N Shoots: Preschoolers Connect with Nature

By Laura Jackson Roberts

If you’ve followed my Oglebay Institute adventures, you know that I’ve sat in on a lot of children’s classes: dance, gymnastics, art, and theater. But nature classes for kids are my favorite because nature is my favorite place to be. Today, I’m spending the morning with a pack of rowdy rugrats at Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center.

This class is called Roots ‘N Shoots, and it’s for the littlest of the little ones, the 2- to 4-year-olds. It’s taught by educator Robin Lee, who has been interacting with Schrader kids for 9 years. In fact, my son, Andy, was a 3-year-old in Robin’s summer camp on the morning when his little brother was born. We Roberts go way back with Miss Robin. I also vividly recall the long winters when I had toddlers and how trapped we often felt, day after day, in the house. Nature and dance classes got us out and gave us the opportunity to meet new friends.

Before class, Robin arranges the lily pad mats where the kids will sit, and I ask her about the name of this class.

Grandparents Love Roots ‘N Shoots

“The reason that we call it Roots ‘N Shoots is that the roots are the adults that bring [the children], and often time, it’s the grandparents, so it’s the grandparents’ connection to the children,” she tells me. “It can also be other caregivers. And the shoots are our smallest and youngest naturalists.”

In fact, forty-five percent of the attending caregivers who come to Schrader classes are grandparents.

I start to ask Robin a little more, but suddenly the door opens and the toddlers arrive in an excited cluster. One by one, they each pick out a lily pad. Several of them tell her about the bird feeders they made in the last class.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Today’s class is called “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and none of the children are intimidated; in fact, they’re all quite attentive as Robin draws a spider and teaches them the arachnid version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes.” It’s called “Head, Thorax, Abdomen,” and it’s a chance for the wiggly kids to get up and dance around.

Robin teaches them about spinnerets, the organ with which a spider creates its silk. One by one, they wrap a ball of twine around their waists until they’ve created their very own spider web. And when they get antsy, she moves them to the tables where they create their own spiders out of pipe cleaners and sweet gum pods. (We’ve had one hanging from our chandelier for six years.)

Preschools enjoy the Roots 'N Shoots program at OI's Schrader Center.

Gramma the Tarantula Makes an Appearance

This morning’s special guest, meanwhile, has been waiting quietly under a blanket in the corner. She’s lived at the Schrader Center for four years, and Robin asks the children to sit as quietly as they can on their lily pads before the special guest joins them on the carpet. Everyone is excited, although a few of the adults look apprehensive.

Gramma is a Chilean Rose Tarantula. She’s big, she’s hairy, and she has a pink cephalothorax. Her Latin name is Grammastola rosea, hence her moniker. When Robin lifts the blanket, Gramma tenses a little bit, as do some of the adults. The children, however, squeal with glee. Now they can see the very creature they’ve just been learning about.

Taking turns and trying as hard as they can to be calm, they crawl up to the glass to get a good look at Gramma. For her part, the tarantula holds still for as long as she can, and it’s not until someone accidentally bumps the glass that she crawls to her log to hide. Gramma is getting used to the little kids, Robin tells me, and the children are lucky to have gotten such a great view of her whole body. She’s a big gal: apparently, Gramma ate very well last summer during the periodical cicadas’ emergence.

Preschools enjoy the Roots 'N Shoots program at OI's Schrader Center.

Once Gramma has had enough, the kids tumble into the adjacent classroom, where they take the Spiderweb Challenge: a web they must cross without touching the silk. They love it. Some crawl, some climb, and almost all of them snag the string at least once. When they do, a fluffy, stuffed animal that looks like Gramma comes flying into the web and they laugh hysterically. It’s a great way to end class, and each child gets several chances to traverse the web.

Save Your Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

I joke with Robin about “getting them into nature young,” but really, I’m quite serious. Our children are losing their connection to nature. They spend more and more time looking at screens and technology, when in fact, children who spend time with nature are happier, healthier, and more successful in school.

In one of my favorite books, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, author Richard Louv remembers his own childhood—and, indeed, if you’re reading this, your childhood, too—playing outside. With a stick or a rock. Under a tree, or in a tree. Watching ants and caterpillars and spiders.

He writes, “We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole. In my children’s memories, the adventures we’ve had together in nature will always exist.”

Perhaps these tiny children won’t remember their morning with Miss Robin and Gramma. But maybe that hairy little spider will spark a love of wild things, of wild and natural places, that will persist in them for a lifetime.

Roots ‘N Shoots Spring Series

The Roots ‘N Shoots series provides adults and their children the opportunity to incorporate nature education and outdoor fun into all seasons. Lessons include a hands-on nature craft, story or song and a short walk, weather permitting, to outdoor areas around the Schrader Center.

Roots ‘N Shoots is open to children, ages: 2-4, with an adult.  Two classes times (9:15 or 10:30) are available on select Fridays.  Each class meets for one hour.

Cost for all five weeks is $57.50. ($25 for each additional child.) Single session cost is $14($4 for each additional child).   Advanced registration is strongly recommended because class sessions typically fill up.

Topics and Dates include:

March 31: The Wiggly World of Worms – Discover the busy lives of worms as you explore a city of them (vermiculture bin). Find out the important job they do for us. Be prepared to get down and dirty!

April 7: Here Comes the Sun – Things are waking up after their long winter nap, even plants! Experience a seed’s life cycle as you become a seed, a shoot, and finally grow into a plant.

April 21: Sunshine and Sunflowers! – Dig in and get dirty as you plant your own flower in a recycled container using recycled soil. Learn about plant parts and what they do for the plant you take home.

May 5: Earthwalk – Experience the forest floor as you never have before. Discover tiny creatures and see the tree tops from upside down!

May 19: PrePONDerous Fun! – Explore animal life cycles as we capture tadpoles and observe wildlife at the upper pond. Class will meet at Schenk Lake.

To register, call Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center at 304-242-6855.

The Schrader Center offers a variety of classes for children and adults. Other family programs include Budding Naturalists and Salamander Crawl. Adult classes for spring include composting and rain barrel workshops.  See the complete list of spring nature programs at OIonline.com.