World Class Glass Facility of epiphany
In July of 1997 epiphany began the process of building their own state of the art glass studio in Pontiac, Michigan. As of February 1, 2000 this 4,000 square foot studio is fully operational. Spiral Arts, who built the studios of Lino Tagliapietra, Steuben, and the Corning Museum, built much of epiphany’s studio equipment especially for them.
The studio was designed to push the limits of the artists and the glass medium itself. The goal was to create a “universal” studio that would permit any professional glass artist to walk into the epiphany studio and feel as though they are in a familiar environment. Most recently, renowned Italian artist Lucio Bubacco has requested to work in the studio during his visits to the United States. He stated that “I enjoy creating here for the energy and treatment is something I have never experienced. It also amazes me that April can create the quality works that they she does with only one assistant. In Italy there are six to eight people working on the sizes of pieces they create themselves. They are truly amazing.” While Lucio was at the studio, he and epiphany created collaborative works, which all three artists hope to be the first of many.
Within the studio you will find one of the largest, most sophisticated glory holes in the world. A glory hole is critical in the reheating and sculpting of each glasswork. The size of the glory hole enables the artists to create the large-scale pieces their customers are demanding. Other unique attributes to this studio are the revolutionary round 800 pound tank furnace which creates a higher quality of glass, a metal fabrication shop, a cold working facility with etching capabilities, a digital inventory system and an additional 1,000 square foot gallery attached to the studio.
One of the driving forces of epiphany building a 4,000 square foot, world-class studio was to give the artists the ability to create large-scale, multidimensional works. As requested by various epiphany collectors, the new epiphany studio enables the artists to be limitless in their creativity and scale of works. The artists are now able to create small to large-scale commission pieces for individual or corporate collections as well as for galleries and their clientele.