The GlasStation

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The GlasStation

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A Glass Blowing studio located in Farmville, NC - Part of ECU's School of Art and design. The first glass class began in spring semester, 2017.

East Carolina's GlasStation, which resides about 15 west of main campus in Farmville, NC, is the result of a grassroots effort by The Farmville Group, a volunteer economic development association interested in growing the local economy through the arts. The Allen and Stowe families of Farmville donated a former Gulf gas station to the DeVisconti Trust. ECU leases the GlasStation building from the Trust, and have outfitted the GlasStation with equipment to create a functioning hot glass studio. The School of Art and Design in the College of Fine Arts and Communication at East Carolina University offers undergraduate and graduate ART classes for ECU students focused on glass blowing and making at the GlasStation. Continuing education classes for the community will begin in late March, 2017. For more information, please email [email protected]. Photos copyright Cliff Hollis, ECU News Services

10/12/2026

It's already that time again. The 3rd Friday Demo Night is coming up at the end of the week.

Join us on Friday, October 16th, 2026 from 6 - 9pm for a fun and educational evening.

It's spooky season, so prepare for some spooky ghosts and glass in the shop.

09/25/2026

Check out what we made at last week's demo night - traffic comes! Why did we make traffic cones? Well, you never know when you might need one.

Some behind the scenes info. A glass piece usually doesn't begin or end in the hot shop, there's usually work that is done before and after. These, for example, were made using a technique called Encalmo, where you join up multiple cups of glass of different colors to make the bubble you create the piece from. To save time during the demo night (also to keep it from being repetitive, excessively long, and boring) most of the cups were made and joined up beforehand - a grand total of about 2.5hrs of work.

Both of these pieces also needed a good amount of work done in the cold shop after they had cooled down in the annealing kiln. The punty mark had to be ground off on the top of the cone and a lens was carved and polished into it. The base was cut into a square and the green one had to have that cut edge taken up to a full polish (it's usually 6 stages of grinding to go from a rough finish to a full polish). Then finally, both pieces got some sandblasting. It was about 2 hours of work for each piece in the cold shop.

09/14/2026

The first demo night of the fall is coming up.

Join us this Friday, September 18th, 2026 from 6pm - 9pm and watch some demos and learn about glass and ceramics.

There's plenty of other things to see around Farmville during the 3rd Friday Art Walk, so make an evening of it (and cross your fingers for cooler weather).

09/02/2026

We spent the first week of the semester sandcasting. Why?

It was hot!!! We don't have to turn on some of the heat generating equipment to do sand casting, so it keeps the temperature down in the shop.

Sand casting is pretty simple. You start with a container full of slightly damp, sifted sand - any sand could work, but magnesium iron silicate (olivine or synthetic olivene) is the preferred. You press a model in and pack the sand tightly around it, then remove the object leaving an impression. Model choice is important because you can't have any undercuts and deep, thin detail probably won't fill properly and the sand impression may be delicate in those areas and crumble before you get the glass in. Simple is generally better.

You then have to apply a mold release to keep the sand from sticking to the glass. Many things can be used, but my favorite is soot from an acetylene flame.

Then, simply grab your large casting ladle and get a scoop of glass out of your handy-dandy glass furnace and pour it in.

You have to wait for the glass to cool down and firm up before you dig it out and take it to the kiln to properly anneal. You can't wait too long though because if it cools too much it will crack. When you have thick and thin areas in the same casting, you frequently have to use a torch to keep the thin areas hot while the thick areas cool down.

All in all though, its a pretty simple way to cast glass and has a unique aesthetic.

08/31/2026

A new semester is underway which means new demo nights are coming. We'll be starting up with the first one on the 3rd Friday in September, hopefully we'll be past the hottest days by then

The Open House demo nights are on the 3rd Friday of each month during the semester and run from 6pm - 9pm. They are free, open to the public, and no RSVP is required. Just stop on in, have a good time, and learn some things about how hot glass working is done.

The dates for the Fall 2026 semester are:
September 18th, 2026
October 16th, 2026
November 20th, 2026
December 18th, 2026

All these will be running from 6pm - 9pm

ECU's GlasStation is located at:
3732 W Wilson St
Farmville, NC 27828

ecuartscomm ecuglasstation

05/11/2026

The last demonstration night of the semester is coming up this Friday, May 15th from 6pm - 9pm.

We'll be shutting down for summer break shortly after, so stop on by and see some exciting glassblowing. Be sure to check out all the other great thingss in Farmville and make a night of it.

04/21/2026

Check out the last demo night's work. We made glass . . . . FROM SPACE!!!!!

First, I should introduce 'Zip Zorp'. They're a friendly little green alien. Zip Zorp was made as an in class demonstration at the beginning of this semester and based on a doodle a student had done on one of our boards.

For the demo night, we made a friend for Zip Zorp that came to visit them in their flying saucer.

We also made a blue bottle . . . .FROM SPACE!!!!

04/13/2026

Our next 3rd Friday demo night is fast approaching.

Join us this coming Friday, April 17th from 6pm - 9pm, and check out some glass and ceramics demonstrations.

We already have a plan for what we are making in the glass shop and it's going to be out of this world.

Address

3732-B West Wilson Street
Farmville, NC

Telephone

+12523286665

Website

https://art.ecu.edu/

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