Bryn Athyn College announces 2016 Summer Building Arts Workshops

Bryn Athyn College announces its 2016 line up of Summer Building Arts Workshops in blacksmithing, mosaic, stained glass and stone carving, taught by nationally and internationally recognized master craftsmen experienced with traditional and modern techniques and materials.

The hands-on workshops also tap the teaching resources made available by the College’s close association with and proximity to three Bryn Athyn Historic District buildings: Bryn Athyn Cathedral, Glencairn Museum with its vast collection of religious art and history, and Cairnwood, the latter two former homes of the Pitcairn family.

“In 2010, Bryn Athyn College began to seek ways to reinvigorate the practice of the traditional medieval building crafts used across the street in the construction of Bryn Athyn Cathedral, built 1913-1919, and Glencairn, built 1928-1939,” says J. Kenneth Leap, architectural stained glass designer and instructor and director of the college’s Building Arts Summer Workshops. “The remarkable story of how these two structures were designed and built describes the rediscovery of methods used to build medieval European cathedrals and adapting these methods to express new ideas in new materials.”

To accomplish the “second Bryn Athyn revival” of the building arts for the 21st century, the College sought master craftspeople and accomplished artisans who are also exceptional instructors.

Establishing studio space on campus and using the existing stone carving workshop originally set up for the Cathedral’s construction, the College launched its first Summer Building Arts Workshops in 2012 with glass painting, stone carving and metal forging. The summer program, now in its fifth year, has expanded to 12 different workshops in four building arts.

Encouraged by increasing interest in the workshops, the College’s Arts Department launched a Building Arts associate’s degree program this academic year that incorporates the summer workshops and has accepted its first registrants.

Four weeks in June and July

The 2016 Summer Building Arts Workshops at Bryn Athyn are 12 five-day intensives taught by nationally recognized master craftsmen over four sessions in June and July. Each course meets for 32 hours of instructional time; Bryn Athyn College credit and Act 48 Professional Development Credit are available. Enrollment is limited. Each session is $675 and includes materials and access to tools.

To learn more about the Building Arts summer workshops and instructors, visit online at http://www.workshopsatbrynathyn.com, register online at http://www.workshopsatbrynathyn.com/p/registration.html, or contact J. Kenneth Leap at kenneth.leap@brynathyn.edu or 609.682.0456.

2016 Bryn Athyn College Summer Building Arts Workshops

June 27-July 1
Blacksmithing: Forged Furniture with John Rais
Stained Glass: Glass Lamination with Sasha Zhitneva

July 11-July 15
Blacksmithing: Steel Repousse with Warren Holzman
Mosaic: Glass Mosaic with Carol Stirton-Broad
Stained Glass: Munich Style Glass Painting with J. Kenneth Leap

July 18-July 22
Blacksmithing: Iron Casting with Jeb Wood
Stained Glass: Screen Printing on Glass with Joseph Cavalieri
Stone Carving: Cathedral Stone Carving with Jen Langlotz

July 25-July 29
Blacksmithing: Forged by Design with Michael Rossi
Mosaic: Architectural Mosaic with Yakov Hanansen
Stained Glass: Stained Glass Conservation with Steve Hartley
Stone Carving: Architectural Stone Carving with Simeon Warren

Images (Credit: Bryn Athyn College)

Students in Stone Carving Workshop at Bryn Athyn College use traditional and new techniques.

Warren Holzman, instructor, working steel in the Blacksmithing Workshop at Bryn Athyn College.

Student work from Glass Lamination Workshop at Bryn Athyn College

Student in Munich Style Glass Painting Workshop at Bryn Athyn College uses a favorite image as his model for a painted panel.