When glassblower Darren Goodman visited his alma mater this summer he was dismayed to see the glassworks
had been removed at Bowling Green State University He was concerned that the program had been
terminated.
Not to worry,
said Scott Darlington, who now heads the program. He told him the glassworks was being rebuilt.
On Saturday, the School of Art will hold a grand reopening of the glassworks from 6 to 9 p.m. in room
1200 of the School of Art, starting with a
reception including food and music.
There will be glassblowing demonstrations and an appearance by special guest artist Laura Donefer.
Goodman will be on campus Thursday to help celebrate the new facility.
He will be in the glassworks from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. working and talking with students, and then will
present a slide lecture at 6 p.m. in room 1200.
The 2003 graduate didn’t come to BGSU to be a glassblower or even an artist. He arrived as a business
major who loved to play music. The singer-songwriter played local bars.
He investigated becoming a music major, but was discouraged by the requirements.
On a whim he walked across Ridge Street to the School of Art where he met Bud Hurlstone, the godfather of
glass at BGSU.
"I’d like to learn how to blow glass," he told Hurlstone.
"You’ll love it," the teacher told him.
"I instantly became very, very focused on it," Goodman recalls. Soon he was spending up to 60
hours a week in the glassworks. Goodman didn’t have much exposure to the art of glass before then.
In high school in the Dayton area, Goodman spent more time in woodshop than in art class, spending as
much as a half day in the shop.
Still, for all his new found love of glass, when he graduated he still was fixated on a career in music.
The idea to open a studio first came up when he was contemplating moving to Memphis to play music there
and someone offered to set him up in a studio as a way of supplementing his income.
That deal fell through, but then his father suggested he could help him get started in the Dayton area
where he grew up.
They found a house with a barn in Waynesville.
By 2005 he had the studio up and operating. He was blowing glass and teaching workshops. He started
getting some work in studios.
Goodman employs Venetian glass techniques that produce thin glass and elegant forms and integrating fused
glass.
He concentrates on making art objects rather than functional pieces. "I just thought there was
really a limit to functionality as to how far I could take it. With art there’s no limit," he said.
"It’s important to me to have the object just for the pleasure of looking at it."
From the start he met success, placing work in galleries and getting accepted in quality shows.
Then earlier this year, coincidentally after he just completed a number of projects and had some open
time, he was contacted by a representative of the Ferrari motor company. The company wanted glass
trophies to hand out to winners in its Ferrari Challenge race series, and she had discovered his work on
the Internet.
She asked if he wanted to submit samples to be considered for the commission. Goodman sent mockups, which
company officials liked. He followed with several prototypes. They liked them so much they cut the
search short and asked him to start producing the wine bottle-shaped red trophies.
With the first races scheduled in March, he had to race to make his deadline. He’s worked throughout the
summer. About eight to a dozen trophies are handed out at each race.
Goodman’s produced about 150 to date, and may have another 100 to do. He’ll be producing some of those
while visiting BGSU.
He has ideas for
next year’s trophy, but no decision has been made.
His lecture will cover both his creative process and "how I’ve gone to actually make this work as my
job."
He is pleased to see that Darlington is carrying on the tradition established by Hurlstone, who died in
2005.
"Seeing Scott pick up where Bud left off that really excited me."
