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Volta Glassblowing Studio And Gallery Opens To The Public

The Volta Glass Studio and Gallery is the first full-functioning, flame working glass studio in downtown Bloomington.

Ryan Hoffman has been working with glass for the past 13 years. He co-founded Volta in 2010 with Bob Taylor. Along with Robin Taylor and Jay Snowden, who work there as well, they have a cumulative 35 years' experience blowing glass.

"I started in Evansville," Hoffman says, "and Bob was from Virginia Beach, so we've both migrated from both near and far away, and finally ended up here. Bob and I had started doing collaborations together six or seven years ago and it's just culminated in this. It's just a passion."

A Place To Watch And Learn…



Hoffman and Taylor started Volta together in part to educate the public about glassblowing. Visitors to the studio can actually watch them practice their craft.

A lot of people haven't been able to see what truly goes on in a glass studio. There are a lot of misconceptions and a lot of glorified ideas about the whole process. It's really interesting when a person sees it for the first time-the intensity, and what truly goes into creating a piece.


…Becomes A Place To Develop Ideas And Create



After being inspired by what they've seen, visitors can also plan projects of their own. Taylor and Hoffman work by commission. "If they come in looking for a Venetian style goblet, for instance, we can go through the different pieces that we have here in the store, we can take the idea from drawings, from online, whatever, and incorporate it into a piece for them."

The experience of watching the artisans at work and then developing a piece of one's own is as unique as the art that's sure to result from it.

We're trying to bring people in, let them see examples of work, and then go from there to bring their own idea to life.


Visits to the studio to watch live demonstrations are guided on a daily basis, so the opportunity to bring ideas to life in glass is ongoing.

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