Newberg Glass Studio
Ben Smith, Owner
newbergglassstudio@gmail.com
www.newbergglassstudio.com
Founded in 2023.
Hours of Operation
By Appointment
Mission Statement
Newberg Glass Studio provides a fun place to learn a new craft for creatives and people who like to try new experiences. We provide activities for local people and families to do, like doing a free marble hunt each week, where people can go and look for a marble they get to keep if they find it. We provide industry standard glass products like straws and jewelry that make great gifts and enrich people’s lives. We are thankful for the opportunity to help grow the Newberg art scene and give creatives a new outlet that they might not find elsewhere.
Business Products or Services
– Classes
– Marble Hunt sponsorships
– Jewelry
– Wine glasses
– Glass Straws
Business Industry Standing
Newberg Glass Studio is a flameworking studio, a newer art form that is taking the creative world by storm since it’s incubation throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. Soft glass and furnace working has been around for millennia, but this form of glass we do, also known as “hard glass”, has its origin in scientific lab ware. Throughout the past 30 years, hippies have begun to appropriate scientific lab ware and equipment and utilize it in making crazy artistic glass pieces. This new world has opened up relatively recently and provides groundbreaking opportunity to craft pieces and things that have never been made before. By showing the world this new art form as well as teaching them about it, we aim to further artistic expression as a whole.
Customer Engagement
The Newberg Marble Hunt has been a hit since its inception in May 2024. Many people have shared that they look forward to the posts each week, and can’t wait to see where the marble is hidden and who finds it. Our classes have begun to make an impact on creative minded people – what we teach involves a more hands on experience with fire and glass, which attracts people who like to immerse themselves in creative experiences. We love to hear that people have more fun than they expected taking our classes.
Misconceptions
The main misconceptions people have about our business are understandable, and are mostly centered around confusion as to what type of glass we do. Not many people know how many different types of glass exist, and all the different ways glass is used. We are finding ourselves in a position to usher people into a new level of knowledge about what glass they like or have experience buying, collecting, etc. The main misconception is that we are a soft glass studio, one with a big furnace that you stick a long steel rod into to grab hot glass. While this is definitely glassblowing, what we do would be properly described as scientific flameworking with an artist-driven approach. We take the tools and equipment used to make lab ware like flasks or beakers, and we make art instead. So, instead of a furnace with hot glass in it that we dip into, we take raw glass in the form of tubes and rods, and we heat it up with torches to melt it into different shapes. Lots is possible with both forms of glass working, and I am honored to be a pioneer in the hard glass industry who brings it to a wider audience.
Starting Up Stories
We’re a home-based business, so our biggest hurdle is not having open hours for customers to come by and browse our products to buy. We hope one day to have a public storefront where we can sell our goods and teach classes.
