Corey Pemberton brings a new glassblowing course to campus, including a dinner from a fairytale.
During one of my earliest visits to Ox-Bow, I stepped into the Burke Glass Studio and experienced the art of glass blowing for the first time. I’d never seen the likes of it: the furnace, molten glass, and sheer precision of the artists had me rapt. That studio in particular still holds a special place in my heart, and I often seek out reasons to venture over there. The summer of 2022 was no exception.
Eager for an excuse to return to my favorite spot on campus, I volunteered to scope out the new glass course being offered. Nix, one of the students, kindly walked me over to the studio one morning and toured me around the space, re-introducing me to the furnace, kiln, and benches, as well as a collection of completed glasswork. Soon the other students arrived. For most of them, this was their first time working with glass. Corey Pemberton introduced himself, shaking my hand after he set down a bag full of trout, asparagus, cherries, and garlic shoots. He and a few of his students had just returned from the local farmers’ market.
Corey Pemberton showcases mushrooms fresh from the Farmer’s Market. Photo by Yeji Kim (Summer Fellow, 2022)
“Anyone have a plate for asparagus?” Pemberton asked his students. This is not the typical question one expects from their professor, but this was not a typical intro-to-glass course. One by one, students held up wares in response to Pemberton’s oddly specific requests: water pitcher, trout platter, cherry bowl, charcuterie board, and even an asparagus plate. Fifteen minutes later they had found the proper vessels for their final evening on campus. Like many courses at Ox-Bow, the two week long session culminates in an exhibition. But this was no ordinary exhibition. This was a farm-to-studio-to-table dinner.
“This idea was inspired by the many meals I've shared with friends and fellow makers using hand made objects,” Corey later shared, “and by the intense bonds that are formed in a glassblowing studio.”
Despite having only one day left, the students had a decent amount of production ahead of them and they were about to learn one of the most essential lessons of the course.
“Alright, today we’re doing an assembly line of cups,” Pemberton announced. Throughout the week students have been working on their own pieces, start to finish. But Pemberton was about to shake things up. Each student would take a small portion of the process. The glass studio is typically a place where artists must collaborate with one another: opening and closing furnace doors, grabbing instruments, and shielding each others’ arms from the heat. That day’s collaborative exercise took their chemistry and trust to a new level.
The 2022 Studio Manager Yashu Reddy said it’s a helpful process to learn, one that’s not often taught. “This is what it looks like in a lot of professional settings,” Reddy noted. In Pemberton’s words, through this method “emphasis [is] placed less on the individual objects, and more on the overall experience, as well as the power of collaboration.” When a student asked about another’s role in the process, Pemberton stopped them. “You don’t need to worry about what she’s doing.” In this style of glass making, each student is tasked to mind their own business, to focus on one small step in the process.
A well dressed table sits in the center of the Burke Glass Studio. Photo courtesy of Corey Pemberton.
Pemberton’s teaching style exists in the liminal space between critique and camaraderie. One moment you might witness him offering much needed criticism, but minutes later you’ll catch him dancing across the studio floor when a student queues up a particularly catchy song. In essence, Pemberton fits right in with the spirit of Ox-Bow. Intense learning surrounded by intentional community. “It was the summer solstice and Beyonce had just dropped her single ‘Break my Soul’ and it was pulsing through the studio,” Pemberton recalled, “We worked hard, but still managed to take time to go to the beach, get root beer floats, and mingle with students from other [courses] around the bonfire.”
By the end of my afternoon with Pemberton and the students, they had produced an additional 15 cups. Outside of a few casualties throughout the process, it seemed each glass turned out better than the last.
Pemberton’s students gather around a stuffed table. One student raises a glass vessel. Photo by Yeji Kim (Summer Fellow, 2022)
The next day the table was set for a feast at 9:00 p.m., just in time for the evening light to cozy in behind the lagoon – and late enough for the woodland faeries to make an appearance. The students, Pemberton, and a lucky few guests arrived in flower crowns and flowy garments. Two weeks in the studio had led to this celebration, as had a long day in the kitchen for the Hospitality Department. Culinary Director Nicholas Jirasek and his team helped prepare fresh bread, grilled asparagus, herb-adorned trout, and two towering cakes for the event.
Pemberton noted that what first drew him to glass was “the obvious sensory experience” of the art form. The dinner cultivated a kindred ambiance. The rustle of trees, the twinkle of lantern lights, a curated tablescape, and the scents of the Ox-Bow’s kitchen – they all coalesced into a moment best described by the name of the dinner exhibition itself: Summer Solstice Woodland Fairie Realness.
True to the nature of art, especially glass, the intricacies of this course are never to be repeated. The same group of students will not gather together nor will the pieces they created ever find their way to the same table again. It was a fleeting and charmed moment. But that’s not to say that Corey Pemberton won’t be back. During the summer of 2023, Pemberton will teach a similar course; one that is sure to attract another bunch of one-of-a-kind artists who will create their own wares and feast. The course, aptly named “The Dinner Party,” is destined for enchantment – and you can bet that I’ll somehow find an excuse to pay that class a visit.
Corey Pemberton returns to Ox-Bow in Summer 2024 to teach “The Dinner Party,” Pemberton’s third installment of this event-based, studio-practice course at Ox-Bow.
Corey (American b. Reston, VA 1990) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at The Pittsburgh Glass Center (Pennsylvania), Bruket (Bodø, Norway), Alfred University (New York), as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts (North Carolina). He has exhibited work at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (California), The Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh (North Carolina), and has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Art and Design (New York), The Boston Museum of Fine Art (Massachuesetts), and The Chrysler Museum of Art (Virginia). Pemberton currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he splits his time between the nonprofit arts organization Crafting the Future, painting, and his glass practice. He strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.
This article was written by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller. The article was originally published in our Summer 2023 Catalog.