Originally from the Finger Lakes, Chip Hall has been in Charlottesville for 28 years. While he has worked some side jobs around town, including bartending at C&O, for all of those nearly three decades, he has been blowing glass. His studio at the McGuffey Art Center, named Raging Buffalo Glass, was for a long time a solo operation. However, in more recent years, others have enthusiastically joined him in creating art there as well.
One of the artists who has taken up residence in the studio is Anson Parker, a Charlottesville native and an IT professional at the University of Virginia, with a passion for glass-blowing. He still recalls finding Raging Buffalo Glass 10 years ago. “I was standing in the doorway and Chip saw me,” he said. “And I said: how did I not know this place exists? And I haven’t left since.”
All of the equipment in the studio was originally made by Chip until Parker began helping to build it three years ago. There’s a furnace, a kiln, and numerous other necessary pieces of equipment, and the two intend to build a new furnace to use for building new glass colors. Parker embraces the variety of skills and equipment necessary to create their pieces. “It’s fun and you touch on every craft -- CNC machining, making molds, welding, cutting, saw mills, all of these different crafts come together to get a product out the door,” Parker said. “Every craft in the foundry is useful. And if you don’t have the natural skill, you’ll figure something out -- get creative.”
Parker is also tapping into his technical side, utilizing AI technology like ChatGPT to learn how to achieve the results they’re looking for. “Glass-blowing recipes aren’t public knowledge; they’re not something that is shared -- it’s a trade secret,” he said. “ChatGPT has become normal, and you can start to learn recipes.”
For Parker, and others who work with glass as a medium, glass-blowing extends beyond those technical sides into performance art as well. “Part of it is like getting on a stage,” he said. “Everyone has their own flair -- some people are very flamboyant with it. In and of itself, it’s an amazing thing to see.” Hall agreed, saying, “There’s definitely some flamboyance; it’s also meditative. It’s a lot like surfing -- once you get on the board, you can’t get off.”
The studio has also become home to a number of other glass-blowers with backgrounds that range from web development, carpentry, and concrete testing to architecture, accounting, and more. One of those is Gabby Kerson, whose primary career focus is on working in childcare, but she has also been glass-blowing since 1995. Originally from New England, she moved to Charlottesville for a brief time in her early twenties when she did a bit of work with Hall. She moved back north for a while, but ultimately returned to Charlottesville and became a part of Raging Buffalo Glass. Kerson says she appreciates the environment at McGuffey, noting, “It’s a community space, it’s open to the public, and it’s really, really fun for people to work there.”
Kerson says that the team at Raging Buffalo Glass has always been focused on being community-oriented, welcoming people into the space to experience the art that they love to create. But in more recent years, they’ve expanded into being a hub for learning, offering classes to those who want to try their hand at crafting with glass. “We’re trying to make the space as accessible as possible,” she said. “With that comes teaching; not everyone can blow glass, but everyone who can stand the heat can blow glass.” Over a dozen students have been engaging in the classes over the last year or two.
In addition to classes and simply being able to watch the glass-blowing happen, community members can experience the joy of producing handmade glass art by dropping in for the studio’s interactive ornament-making in October and November. The team is also planning on a potential glass pumpkin-making opportunity for the fall and a Valentine-themed one early next year, as well. It’s expected that they’ll also do a repeat of Mother’s Day vase-making (ahead of the holiday with the intention of creating a gift) that popularly debuted this year, too. And Kerson is passionate about being inclusive in classes and other ventures at the shop, emphasizing that they’re there to embrace the process of learning and acknowledging the potential for breakage. “Students can always work in the shop,” she said. “There’s nothing precious about it in any way that makes it exclusionary.”
After nearly three decades, Hall is still appreciative of the opportunity he has had to build Raging Buffalo Glass at McGuffey Arts Center, stating, “The arts association is wonderful, the building is wonderful, the city is wonderful -- I’m always happy that I’m here.” With similar sentimentality, Kerson echoed a love for what has evolved into a thriving studio in Charlottesville, stating, “Only a small number of cities have a glass studio like this, and the fact that we do, and it could stay here forever, is amazing.”
To learn more or to see the artists at work, buy their goods, or inquire about classes, stop by the studio in the McGuffey Art Center at 201 2nd St NW, Charlottesville, VA 22902, or visit RagingBuffaloGlass.com.
Only a small number of cities have a glass-blowing studio like this, and the fact that we do, and it could stay here forever, is amazing.