Vetro has a incredible gallery full of colorful and beautifully made glass pieces. You can also watch live demonstrations as the artists work on pieces throughout the day. We first sat in some bleachers, which Nicholas thoroughly enjoyed walking up and down. Once the newness of the bleachers wore off, Nicholas sat down in my lap and we watched Becky and Travis work on making a paperweight. Nicholas really seemed interested in watching and learning about what was going on. We talked about how hard glass is at room temperature and how the artists have to heat it up in order to make it flexible enough to shape. We watched Becky as she repeatedly heated up the glass in the furnace until it glowed bright orange, worked with the piece for a while, and then put it back in the furnace.
We were invited into the work area for a better view. Travis warned Nicholas not to touch anything because you never know if it may be hot (good advice!). We learned about some of the different molds and tools used to shape the glass. Here Travis is holding one of the molds that can make the inner spirals inside a glass paperweight.
We also learned that the main furnace is kept at around 2000 degrees and the furnaces that are used to heat the glass, called Glory Holes, are kept around 2400 degrees. That's pretty hot!
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