Brooklyn Glass

I came here for a 3 hour glassblowing class with a Groupon for my wife’s birthday last month. We had a GREAT time. I was skeptical, especially given how expensive the evening was, but I was blown away. The class was small — 8 participants, with one instructor and 2 TA’s. Each person made a paperweight and a drinking glass. You could do as much or as little as you wanted. There was ample supervision and explanation. The one annoying part was one participant who showed up 20 minutes past the start time despite the voucher asking people to come 20 minutes early. So 10 people waited 40 minutes for this woman, who I thought should’ve been treated as a no-​show given the cost of the activity ($ 150 each for 3 hours). Overall we had a GREAT time and would highly recommend.
We enjoyed so much that we went back for the Hot Glass, Cold Beer fundraiser this past Saturday night. The place was very crowded and it was difficult to see/​hear a lot of the demonstrations. Some sort of microphone would really help, especially in the main room. They also ran out of beer halfway through the event which was a real downer given that it was billed as all you can drink. If we hadn’t come and had such an amazing time doing the class, I think we would have left very disappointed.

I love events like New York Open House & Gowanus Open studios. They force us to get out of our little warm cocoons on a cold Sunday, and go out exploring.
So it was yesterday when I picked a glass blowing shop to stop into. What an adventure.
I knew nothing about glass blowing. I’ve never been to one of these places. Little did I know it involves million degree ovens, teamwork like coordination, and a whole bunch of creativity.
When we stopped in, they were just starting a full on tour of the place. Along with about twenty other people, we watched one guy work the torch for a while, spinning & forming a glass piece like a master. And then we watched two different teams of two people work on making a decanter & a glass mug. Really exciting.
Being right here in my backyard, I’ll definitely be back to take one of there classes. Or to stop in for Hot Glass Cold Beer. What else???

A friend and I took the Neon Weekend class: 11 am-​4 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. On the whole, the facilities and teaching were impressive and we definitely learned a lot.
I’m saddened that I must write this, as the instructor worked very hard to try to give us all a positive experience, but I feel that it’s important to speak up since this is a serious investment in someone’s time and money ($ 400). I hope that my thoughts here can help Brooklyn Glass to improve.
On Saturday, we spent ~2 hours of 5 hours just standing — yes, standing — around talking. The background lecture could have been limited to 1 hour. Unfortunately, the instructor repeatedly injected his own political (and potentially pseudo-​scientific) views into his instruction, which took away from valuable time actually learning.
At the end of Saturday, all students made an abstract neon «squiggle», before we were taught any proper techniques and without any demonstration. It was stressful to be asked to bend glass for the first time without knowing what we could really do.
Icing on the cake: the cost of the transformer is an additional cost ($ 40 – 70) ON TOP of the ~$ 400 already paid for tuition. It’s mentioned in the course description that «power supplies [are] available for a nominal fee», but I’m not sure where they get their definition of «nominal». Of course, you could choose not to buy the transformer, but then you’d just have a unlit neon sign/​sculpture with no way to plug it in at home.
On Sunday, we split off to start working on our final projects independently. We were asked to brainstorm some ideas the night before, but were given NO constraints. Could we have letters? What kinds of shapes? What are some of the example student projects? How many colours? NO IDEA.
The instructor came through the shop and taught each of us one by one, teaching us splicing/​bending and working with us. This would have been fine, except he began mixing up the order that he was helping us in, resulting in some students getting double the attention and others (like myself) getting ignored. Then he proceeded to get frustrated at me and another student for not being «ready» to start our projects, when in fact we had actually been waiting for him for 30 – 40 minutes to come around to approve our designs and give us additional guidance.
Ultimately, because my design was too complicated, he ended up taking control and making my project for me. I still learned a lot about the design/​creation process, but I feel that this could have be avoided if the class was organized differently.
Here are some of my (obviously unsolicited) thoughts:
— Please tell us the project constraints IN ADVANCE so we can brainstorm our designs before Sunday! Maybe even do a preliminary review at the end of Saturday’s class to check if some of the designs are too complicated.
— Please teach us the splicing/​bending skills on Saturday so that it won’t be crammed in with Sunday. Teach us all together so you only need to explain it once!
— There were 6 students in the class, with 1 instructor and 1 assistant. I would recommend in the future that 2 properly trained instructors be present to teach, or the class size should be limited to no more 4 students.
— Find a better way to manage how much time is devoted to each student, so that no one gets left out. Perhaps schedule 15-​minute appointments for each student and keep rotating through them in order.
I was also very saddened that towards the end of the class, my project broke (and could not be repaired) because of a weakened bend in my glass, which the instructor may not have noticed because he was helping me with my project in such a hurry, bending new sections of the glass before the old ones had properly cooled. This could have been prevented.
The instructor is very talented and the piece turned out beautifully. I applaud him for handling the pressure of finishing 6 students’ projects in time. Although he got mildly agitated, he was on the whole a very patient, skilled and pleasant instructor. I appreciate that he gifted me a neon sculpture he made in consolation, but I was further disappointed that the instructor made no offer to invite me to come back, or help me remake my project at a later date. I was left to take home a broken project, which is ultimately of no use to anyone.
I’d like to thank Brooklyn Glass and the instructors for putting on an interesting class. This class has the potential to be fantastic and I hope that it can be even better for future students!
ADVICE:
— Eat a full meal before you come to class, which starts at 11 am and typically runs late with no breaks. Although you could technically leave anytime to eat, you probably don’t want to miss anything.
— There are very few stools in the shop. Be prepared to stand up for the full 5 – 6 hours. It will be very uncomfortable. In the summertime, especially with all of the flames going, it will be absurdly hot.
— Bring cash for the transformer (s).

Brooklyn Glass is the best!
I took at 1-​day bead-​making class with Laurie and it was a great experience! The first hour of the workshop consisted of picking out glass, going over the basics, and demonstrations. The rest of the time consisted of hands-​on instruction with some occasional breaks for demonstration of additional techniques. The class allowed enough flexibility for students to make «requests» for specific things they wanted to work on. As an instructor, Laurie was extremely patient, knowledgable, helpful and encouraging!
Since my first class, I have been back many times both to work with Laurie and to practice independently. The atmosphere at Brooklyn Glass is incredible. It’s clear that everyone there truly has a passion for glass, whether they have been working with it for years or have started more recently. You can learn a ton just by talking to some of the other people there! Everyone, techs/​instructors/​management/​students is so supportive and encouraging of each other; the constant positive energy makes Brooklyn Glass a great environment in which to work and create.

I am gicing this business 5 stars but only 1 star for safety.
They do provide safely glasses but no gloves (the tube socks that are recommended really do nothing) and there is quite a bit of broken glass on the floor. Someone in my party had to get three stitches in her leg due to broken glass. However despite that, I would go again. The instructors are awesome and it is a unique way to spend the day.

I came here for OHNY Weekend and it was so amazing! Everyone that works and creates there are so smart and talented. I also really admired their desire to push boundaries of what is possible with glass glass blowing and neon tubes.
I want to come back for a class for sure, as soon as I make the money to do so. It is pricey but I really believe that the people here will go above and beyond to make sure you have an amazing experience.
I love everyone here, is that weird to say? They all just really impressed me! Lets hang out and talk glory holes.

The introductory glass blowing class at Brooklyn Glass was a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in glass or just learning something new.
The instructors were incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and made the whole class a pleasure. They also tailored the level of «help» they provide. So whether you want a very hands-​on «can’t fail» type of lesson or whether you want to do it mostly yourself, they can adjust.
It is hot — no fooling — but the instructors make sure you won’t get hurt. They definitely put safety first, but fun is not far behind.
I will be going back!

So cool. Love the staff! Made the coolest glass at a work event.
It was hard, but well worth the trip out here.
Coming back for sure!

What a cool place! I attended a Unilocal event here and enjoyed watching a few demonstrations about how to blow glass. The guys who run the place did a good job explaining each step and I might have to swing by for a proper class some day.

I like to start that I am reviewing the weekend course Introduction to Glassblowing that was held on ⁰⁵⁄₃ and 5÷4÷14. This review should be discounted if you are interested in other classes, such as neon sign making or other workshops.
The class itself was a decent amount of fun. Our instructors, Josh and Ben, really knew the craft and were more than helpful when it came to answering questions or offering suggestions on how to achieve certain effects. The source of my frustration stems from the management side; this class was overbooked. Even the instructors admitted to this and nothing was done to accommodate this error from the management side. There were 8 people in a course that should only have been 6. Only 2 work stations were made available for this class. In addition, the curriculum was also not adjusted to accommodate this large class size.
Glass working is a fast process, but when there are 8 novices trying to learn at the same time, you essentially have 70% of the class waiting around doing nothing with two people would get hands on instruction. normally I would have no issue with this, but on the second day of class, we were all supposed to work on 2 projects. Because of the size of the class, ¹⁄₃ of the class, including myself essentially received a ½ day’s experience. Our instructors were apologetic and invited us to stay a overtime to get our experience worth, but the studio was booked for another group immediately following ours. Its seemed like the instructors were completely unaware of this schedule as well.
When I returned a few days later to pick up my work, I found the studio completely closed. I was told that I could pick up my work at anytime during the week that the studio was open. I showed up today at 7:00 PM (hours on the website said they would be open till 9:00) and was greeted with a locked gate. (It takes me over 2 hours to get to the studio). There was no signage or explanation as it was closed during a time when it should be open. I also called the office several times. No answer. Unless you live in South Brooklyn even getting to this place can be pretty difficult and judging from my class, most people were coming in from several hours away.
If you are considering signing up for a course, try to make sure that there are no more than 3 people to work bench.
Edit: I am updating the my review by 1 star. One of the owners did call back and apologized for locking up the main entrance when I wanted to pick up my work. Apparently there was a class there, but there was no phone and no buzzer, honestly they could have really fooled me and I did try shouting and causing a lot of noise to no answer. It is clear that he really cares, but my review still stands as it is.

I attended a 2 hour Glass Blowing class a few weekends back via
at Brooklyn Glass.
The class was billed as semi-​private, and ended up just me and my husband learning from a seasoned glass artist alone in the studio. We were taught the basics and really got the chance to do most everything ourselves by the end, with very little assistance. We created multiple glass items we could take home the next day. The facility is perfect and the class was so much fun… educational and interesting, something both of us have always wanted to do.
Highly recommend Brooklyn Glass!