About the Team
You can see live glassmaking in the Hot Shop whenever the Museum is open, except for when the team breaks for lunch—usually 1-2pm.
In the Hot Shop, we show you how it’s done! Our visiting artists from around the globe repeatedly say our Home Hot Shop Team is one of the best teams of glassblowers in the world. Any day you come to the Museum, you’ll be able to see them in action. When you’re in the Hot Shop, you won’t see staged demos, but an authentic artistic process. You may see a chalk sketch turn into a beautiful sculpture, the artists changing course mid-stream or occasionally, as we push the limits, a piece crash and become a “floor model.”
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Benjamin Cobb, Gaffer
Originally from Newport, Rhode Island, Ben has been working in glass since 1993. He earned a BFA in Glass & Sculpture working under Michael Taylor, Robin Cass and Frantisek Janák at Rochester Institute of Technology's School of American Crafts. He has worked at The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State and Bacchus Glass in Sonoma, California. To the disappointment of many visitors, Ben’s a happily married man.
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Alex Stisser, Gaffer
From the small town of Galva, Illinois, Alex has been working in glass since 1993. He earned his BFA in Glass & Sculpture from Illinois State University and also studied in Wolverhampton, England. Alex has worked at The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State and Benjamin Moore, Inc. in Seattle. Alex often spends vacations driving a tractor around the family farm.
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Gabe Feenan, Gaffer
Gabe has been working in glass since 1996. Prior to accepting a position on the Museum’s Hot Shop Team, he worked in and around the California Bay area, both at Smyers Glassworks in Benicia and Bacchus Glass in Sonoma. When he's not turning a blow pipe, he's likely to be holding a fishing pole.
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Conor McClellan, Cold Shop Technician
Conor’s from right here in Tacoma and began working in glass in 1998 under local artist Jennifer Holmes at Off Hand Glassworks. He works behind the scenes cutting, etching and polishing to put the finishing touches on glass pieces once they’ve cooled. Conor likes his music turned up to eleven.
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Sarah Gilbert, Head Technician
Sarah was raised in Rochester, NY, and began working in glass in 1999. She earned a BFA in glass and sculpture from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005. She’s the one who ensures the Hot Shop runs smoothly. A former Philly resident, Sarah sides with Geno’s in the all-important cheesesteak debates.
Next Steps
You might also be interested in the Hot Shop, the studio/amphitheater where the Team works, or in the Visiting Artists who we invite to work with them.
