Philadelphia is a city full of artists and glassmakers form one of the many communities that is making an international name for itself.
The glass pipe-making culture was first brought to attention in M. Slinger’s documentary “Degenerate Art,” where he traveled across the country and tracked down the origin of the color changing pipes to its pioneer, Bob Snodgrass.
Pipe-making specifically brings artists together in collaborative ways when creating a piece. Not all of these featured artists are Philadelphia born and raised but at some point in their life, they all decided that here would be best place to set up a studio.
There are many misconceptions relating to glass pipes, especially for their external uses. The artists say this shouldn’t detract from the fact that someone’s hands manipulated glass to create an object.
Here is an inside look into the lives and views of some of the top glass artists in Philadelphia. It is the first installment of a four part documentary series titled, “Philadelphia Glass Land.”
Continue to Philadelphia Glass Land Part 2 here.
– Text, video and images by Holli Stephens
Informative! I had no idea there was a thriving glass artistry community! Great video!