Glassblowing Your Mind at UMass

“Turn on the propane first with this knob, then turn this knob for the oxygen.” A flame, half a foot long, bursts from the nozzle.

That was Sally Prasch, a scientific glassblower of the UMass Glassblowing Laboratory. In February, the Student Event Committee organized three workshops at the lab for Smithies to learn the unique craft of glassblowing, an intersection of art and science that cannot be found on campus. 

Sally Prasch demonstrates how to melt the end of a glass rod. By Weina Lu

Participants were armed with an apron to keep their clothes protected, a graphite paddle and metal tweezers to shape the glass, and didymium glasses to filter out sodium flares from the flame. Through several mini-lessons, workshop participants grasped the foundations of glassblowing techniques. Attendees created items like glass rods, stars, straws, pendants, and mini animals.

“I really liked the creative freedom we had. We were taught how to make basic structures, and then we were given time to work on whatever we wanted,” workshop attendee Erin Shehab ‘29 said. “Being able to work at my own pace on pieces that I was excited about made the workshop really informative and fun.”

Grace Li ‘28, Lili Devon ‘29, and Sofia Novosad ‘28 (left to right) work on their own glassblowing pieces. By Weina Lu

Throughout the workshop, participants didn’t just learn glassblowing techniques, but also the science behind the glassblowing process. In order for attendees to learn how to properly work with glass, a solid that acts as a liquid when hot, they had to understand how glass behaves under different amounts of heat and movement.

Prasch also introduced an apparatus called a polariscope, which colorfully depicts areas of stress in transparent glass. If glass has stress, it is more prone to shattering. To remove the stress, participants placed their glass creations into a large annealing oven, which heated their items to 565°C.

Under the polariscope, stress looks colorful in pre-annealed glass. By Weina Lu

Another lesson that attendees quickly learned was that it is impossible to visually differentiate between hot glass and cold glass.

“There was a point where four different people, myself included, were all standing around the sink because we all got burnt,” Rachel Wheatley ‘29 said.

Despite these mishaps, participants were able to bring their artistic ideas to life, like Cheshm Nazars (evil eyes), neurons, and flowers.

Not only is the process of glassblowing an intersection between artistic creativity and scientific knowledge, but the purpose of glassblowing is as well. As a scientific glassblower, Prasch creates custom scientific glassware for various research labs in the area. Many requests come from food science labs at UMass.

“I once made something for food science that looked like a candy cane. It was about 4 feet high,” Prasch said. “I was like, ‘Is that really what you want?’ And they were like, ‘That's what I want.’ They come up with really crazy ideas.”

Prasch also has an art exhibition in Hampden Gallery called Fragile Connections, where her sculptures about humanity and nature highlight the ongoing climate crisis. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are created from recycled glass.

“That could not be made in a factory,” Grace Li ‘28 said regarding Prasch’s work. “I just think that's something that only humans can do through their own handiwork.”

Li isn’t the only one who sees the beauty of humanity in glassblowing.

“There's scientific discovery inherent in the process of learning how to make glass, and it makes me think about all the humans before us who had to test things out to understand the properties of fire and glass,” Petrea Stanley ‘29 said. “Glassblowing is something that straddles the line between technology and art, much like ceramics, and it's so beautifully entwined with human history in that way.”

By Weina Lu