KPLU, Feb. 21, 2012: Hot, exciting and dangerous: Glassblowing with Hilltop Artists

Travis Johnson considered joining a local gang when he was in middle school. By the time he started high school, a rival gang noticed Johnson hanging out with other gang members. They tried to beat him up at a school dance his freshman year. That convinced him to walk away.

JOHNSON: "I didn't want somebody finding out where I lived at, maybe shooting up my house or kidnapping my sister or [doing] just something wild so they can get street cred, so to speak… So I thought carefully about who I made my friends."

Johnson changed high schools to get a fresh start. That's when he also took up glassblowing. The person who convinced him to give glassblowing a try is Greg Piercy. He's the operations manager for Hilltop Artists. Today Piercy's at the hotshop at Tacoma's Jason Lee Middle School. Sixth period has just ended.

PIERCY "Come on, guys, wrap it up. Make sure your tools are numbered though, they go in the numbered box, all right?

Piercy is a supportive, but no-nonsense kind of guy.

PIERCY "You guys were awesome today by the way."
STUDENT "Yay! I'm awesome!"
PIERCY "What are you digging in that for? What do you have in your hand? Why? (student answers in background) No, go put that back in there. That's glass, bud."
STUDENT "What do you have against glass, man?"
PIERCY "In your pocket—it's sharp, man!"

The founder of Hilltop Artists, Kathy Kaperick, recruited Piercy more than 17 years ago. In the early 1990s, the growing number of boys involved in gangs in Tacoma concerned her. Kaperick, who died three years ago, started the nonprofit with glass artist Dale Chihuly.

PIERCY "Her vision was to start this after school program… and the deal was that we were gonna do glass and that was kind of a dangerous substance, it was hot, it was kind of exciting and dangerous, so that was the hook to get kids interested and get them in the front door… At night Kathy and I a lot of times at the end [of the day] when we'd close down, we would get into her car, and we would basically drive around Hilltop and would talk to kids. And so we started recruiting that way."

At first it was a challenge to earn the trust of these kids, but eventually more started to show up.

PIERCY "Some of them were ex-gang members, some of them were wanna-be gang members. They would come in, in the mornings, because we had breakfast and so they would come in and eat breakfast and then they would blow glass."

Today Hilltop Artists serves more than 550 students a year. And Travis Johnson, who started as a student, is still there as a volunteer.

JOHNSON "When I first got the blowpipe and got the first gather of glass, and I looked at it like, 'What can I possibly do to make it into how I feel right now? Do I feel like a wavy bowl full of mixed emotions? Or do I feel like a structured vase just standing tall and elegant because I did such a great job on my quiz today? ... From that first gather, you can make pretty much anything."

Glassblowing is as much about the individual artist as it is about teamwork. At the hot shop, Isacc Russaw is an advanced glass art student. He's in a team with two other young men. They're working with dangerous tools and equipment: furnaces more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, gas blow torches, sharp tools, and long blowpipes with molten glass.

RUSSAW "I trust these gentlemen with my life because in this environment you could get severely hurt or possibly killed if you're not paying attention. That's like key. Gotta trust everyone."

Various organizations regularly commission the production team at Hilltop Artists to create glass art for special events and auctions. Hilltop Artists also sells the glass art to the general public through annual sales and fundraisers. The glassblowers at Hilltop Artists say creating glass art wakes up something inside them. For Travis Johnson, glassblowing helps him focus.

JOHNSON "It [glassblowing] just makes me feel like I am in control of everything that happens in this moment. And I've kind of adapted that so now I'm in control of everything around me, be it with school, my jobs, and my career path, family path, friends. I control that now."

Few of these students go on to become professional glass artists, but at least a few are actively seeking job opportunities in the field. One of them has even started his own glassblowing business, which Hilltop Artists is helping him grow.

Ambar Espinoza, KPLU News, Tacoma.