In 2013, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, partnered with a local military base and launched a unique pilot program: classes for soldiers recovering from physical, mental, and emotional injuries. Today, its Hot Shop Heroes: Healing with Fire program runs eight-week classes four times a year, teaching both introductory and intermediate glassblowing and flame-working, with plans, fueled by demand, to expand even further. Program manager Greg Owen tells us more about the initiative, the therapeutic qualities of hot glass, and working with soldiers – “some of the best glassblowing students we have ever seen.”
Tell us about the origin of Hot Shop Heroes. Did you have any models or inspiration? Hot Shop Heroes: Healing with Fire grew out of a conversation between Lieutenant General Robert Brown, then-commanding officer of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), and Museum of Glass Executive Director Susan Warner in 2013. JBLM is a 60,000 person combined Army Air Force base just south of Tacoma. As a thank you to military personnel for their service, artist Dale Chihuly partnered with the Museum on Presidents Day and offered free admission to soldiers, veterans and their families. The day was a great success, and while watching soldiers participate in hands-on experiences with hot glass, the General suggested that wounded soldiers could benefit physically and emotionally from the practice of glassblowing. Months later, after careful planning with JBLM, the Museum launched the program Hot Shop Heroes: Healing with Fire. Hot Shop Heroes offers glassblowing classes to soldiers that have been physically or mentally wounded. These classes give wounded soldiers something to get excited about and look forward to, while providing proven therapeutic benefits. The hotshop becomes a space where soldiers can escape from the stresses of daily life. Working with glass requires concentration and mindfulness, which helps participants stay in the moment and simply focus on the molten glass at the end of the blowpipe. Glass is a demanding master. The element of danger inherent in gathering glass out of a 2,000-degree furnace can be pretty intimidating to many people, and it's easy to get hurt if you are not paying attention. Soldiers are trained to pay close attention to their surroundings, and are more comfortable than most people when working in risky situations. In my narration of the video, I was striving to get that idea across, but also to say that the glass itself is a perfect poetic metaphor to illustrate the idea of transformation, because of its fluid, alchemical nature. Our returning soldiers are in a fluid, shifting time in their lives, and we hope our classes help give them something new and engaging to want to show up for. Many of our soldiers have been under fire and know its destructive power, but now they have an opportunity to use that fire to shape and manifest their own designs. The opportunity to use fire in a creative way has been extremely empowering and healing for our students, and we feel one of the secrets to our success. It's no wonder the Warrior Transition Battalion has chosen the image of a phoenix rising from the flames as its insignia. While we want this to be a forum for open discussion and dialogue, we also want it to be a family friendly place. Please keep your comments and wall posts clean. In addition, we ask that you follow the posting guidelines here. Posts will be removed if they violate the guidelines listed below:
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