Keep Glassblowing in Phoenix
Donation protected
For much of my life I have been enthralled with glassblowing and the glass arts. In 2002, after much thought I finally decided to pursue the art of glass blowing but was troubled by the lack of glass studios in Phoenix that were open to artists to come and learn the craft. Undaunted, I, with the help a few close friends built a studio where I began to teach myself the knowledge needed. After several years of interacting and getting to know glass artists in and out of state I decided to open my studio to them so that they might have a place to work and grow.
Through the years I had heard from people, who like me, had been struggling to find a place to learn glass blowing, who longed for an opportunity to try the trade. I wanted to give people an opportunity to experience glass blowing for themselves without the commitment so many other places required. I joined forces with other resident glass artists and began to offer affordable classes to allow people the chance to try their hand this age old trade. Over these past few years, we have given thousands of people such an experience with this art form with an outstanding success. Additionally, we even had the honor of giving demonstrations at schools and being included in large events through our mobile glass shop we had built.
We have even had wonderful opportunities to have renowned glass artist from around the country come to work at our studio and have given people the chance to watch and participate in classes with them. It has been a tremendous experience for everyone.
But now all the hard work myself and these wonderful artists have done has become threatened by this unprecedented outbreak. Although we had a small reserve for emergencies, this has completely depleted those reserves and made it difficult to continue to have the studio open.
This why I am here.
I am here to ask you to help us raise a minimal amount of funding in order to keep the business open and continue opportunities to teach and provide an enjoyable experience to people. This entire experience has prevented us from being able to teach this wonderful art form. It has prevented us from allowing other artists to create their own glass art and grow their glass working skills. The neighborhood and surrounding area has been robbed of a welcoming place for all different artists and people to gather.
I want to be able to continue to make this studio available to everyone.
I am not asking you to just give us money. Instead, any money given to this fund can be used by you to pay for a class, purchase a work of art from one of our artists or to use for a private event. In short form we are asking for you to pre-pay for something you may have done anyway. We will use these funds to continue to employ our artists and to pay our overhead until we can reopen for business. This money will help our studio continue to be an open studio, welcoming to all and encouraging to try or learn a new skill.
Most importantly, your contribution will help keep part of the Downtown Phoenix art district alive. With you help we can continue the tradition of passing on an art form rich with history to the next generation.
Let us all work together to offer some #smallbusinessrelief.
Through the years I had heard from people, who like me, had been struggling to find a place to learn glass blowing, who longed for an opportunity to try the trade. I wanted to give people an opportunity to experience glass blowing for themselves without the commitment so many other places required. I joined forces with other resident glass artists and began to offer affordable classes to allow people the chance to try their hand this age old trade. Over these past few years, we have given thousands of people such an experience with this art form with an outstanding success. Additionally, we even had the honor of giving demonstrations at schools and being included in large events through our mobile glass shop we had built.
We have even had wonderful opportunities to have renowned glass artist from around the country come to work at our studio and have given people the chance to watch and participate in classes with them. It has been a tremendous experience for everyone.
But now all the hard work myself and these wonderful artists have done has become threatened by this unprecedented outbreak. Although we had a small reserve for emergencies, this has completely depleted those reserves and made it difficult to continue to have the studio open.
This why I am here.
I am here to ask you to help us raise a minimal amount of funding in order to keep the business open and continue opportunities to teach and provide an enjoyable experience to people. This entire experience has prevented us from being able to teach this wonderful art form. It has prevented us from allowing other artists to create their own glass art and grow their glass working skills. The neighborhood and surrounding area has been robbed of a welcoming place for all different artists and people to gather.
I want to be able to continue to make this studio available to everyone.
I am not asking you to just give us money. Instead, any money given to this fund can be used by you to pay for a class, purchase a work of art from one of our artists or to use for a private event. In short form we are asking for you to pre-pay for something you may have done anyway. We will use these funds to continue to employ our artists and to pay our overhead until we can reopen for business. This money will help our studio continue to be an open studio, welcoming to all and encouraging to try or learn a new skill.
Most importantly, your contribution will help keep part of the Downtown Phoenix art district alive. With you help we can continue the tradition of passing on an art form rich with history to the next generation.
Let us all work together to offer some #smallbusinessrelief.
Organizer
John Longo
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ
