Minturn Maker Space

Glassblowing classes and a working glass studio in Minturn, Colorado

Minturn Maker Space is the home of Drinking Vessels. We teach flameworking to beginners and experienced glassblowers, host group workshops, rent bench time to artists, and run internships and residencies. We also teach pottery and other mediums. The studio is ten minutes from Vail and Beaver Creek.

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A student shapes glass in the torch flame while an instructor guides her hands

Classes

Glass is our primary medium. We also teach pottery and other mediums. All of our instructors work in the studio, materials are included, and we pick the project to fit your experience.

Glass

An instructor and a student at the torch bench in front of the studio mural
An instructor explains a technique to three students at the bench

We teach flameworking. You melt and shape borosilicate glass on a bench torch that runs on propane and oxygen, and work it with graphite tools. If you have seen furnace glassblowing on TV, this is a different process, closer to the way scientific lab glass is made. It is how every Drinking Vessels piece gets made.

Intro class
The intro class runs two hours. You get an orientation to the torch and tools, some time to get a feel for how the glass moves in the flame, and then you make an ornament, a marble, or a swizzle stick to take home.
Second step
Once you have taken the intro class you can come back and make a wine glass. You design and make the stem, picking colors and patterns with your instructor, and your instructor attaches the foot and bowl.
After class
Pieces anneal overnight in the kiln and can be picked up or shipped the next day.
Ages
We teach kids and adults. Families, kids' parties, and school workshops are all welcome, and school workshops can happen here or at the school.
An instructor helps a young child hold a glass rod in the torch flame
A student holds up a finished glass piece on the rod while classmates work behind her

Pottery

We have two wheels and room for hand building, so you can throw on the wheel or make pinch pots and coil pots. You pick from our glazes and we fire everything in the kiln after your class. Pottery classes can be one-on-one or for a group, and they work for kids and adults at any skill level.

Other mediums

We also do one-on-one and group classes in other mediums. Tell us what you are interested in and we will let you know what we can do. Some of these classes can be held at your venue or event.

Groups and events

A full studio during a group event, with guests at every bench
An instructor demonstrates on the glass lathe while a guest watches

We host families, kids' parties, school workshops, corporate teams, destination management groups, bachelor and bachelorette parties, birthdays, family reunions, and ski trip add-ons. Tell us how many people are coming and we will staff it. Bigger groups take turns at the torches and wheels. We can arrange catering. School workshops can happen here or at the school. We also do live glass demonstrations for events, at the studio or at your venue.

Two guests laugh as an instructor shapes glass at the bench
The studio during an event, with people working and talking at every station
Plan a group event

How booking works

  1. Send an inquiry. Use the contact form and tell us the medium, your preferred dates, how many people, and the occasion if there is one. Include a phone number.
  2. We reply with times and a quote. We will get back to you quickly with open slots, how many instructors we would have for your group, and a price.
  3. Pay your invoice. Once you pick a time we send you an invoice or a payment link. You can pay by Zelle, Venmo, or check at no extra cost, or by credit card with a processing fee.
  4. Sign the waiver online. Everyone taking part signs our liability waiver before class day. The link comes with your confirmation. A parent or guardian signs for anyone under 18.
  5. Come to the studio. 1040 Main Street, Unit B, Minturn. Glass pieces are ready the day after class; pottery is ready after glaze firing.

Studio rental

Hobbyist and professional artists can rent bench time by the day, week, or month on the same equipment the Drinking Vessels team uses. Glass renters need to have torch experience. Pottery time, and time in other mediums, is open to anyone who has taken a class with us or can show us their work.

If you are new to the torch or the wheel, start with a class. Our instructors will get you up to the standard we expect in the studio, and once you can work on your own safely, you are welcome to rent time.

  • Flameworking benches with propane and liquid oxygen
  • Vertigo and Heathway lathes for larger work
  • Kiln annealing and cold work room (sandblaster, lapidary wheel, MK saw)
  • Pottery wheels, hand-building space, and glaze firing
An artist working glass on the lathe in the studio
Ask about studio rental

Internships

We offer internships to local high school and college students who want to learn how a working glass studio runs. Interns spend time at the torch and the wheel and help with kiln loads, shipping, and events.

Drinking Vessels started small and grew into a business that sells work around the country. Interns see what that takes day to day, from making the pieces to pricing them, selling them, and keeping the shop running. If you want to find out whether you can make a living from art, this is a good place to do it.

  • Open to high school juniors and seniors and college students in Eagle County and the surrounding area
  • Hours are scheduled around school
  • School credit can be arranged if your program allows it
  • Tell us what you want to learn and we will work out a plan with you
A student in a hooded sweatshirt heats a glass rod at the torch
Apply for an internship

Artist residency

Our residency brings established artists who work in other mediums to Minturn from other parts of the country. We relocate them to the area for the length of the program, teach them the fundamentals of glass, and then work with them to bring their own art into our medium. We have been hosting residencies for about ten years. Most glass residencies in the country focus on furnace work or soft glass. Ours is one of the few for flameworking, and the only one ten minutes from a major ski resort.

  • We relocate you to the Vail Valley for the length of the program
  • Our team teaches you the fundamentals of glass
  • You work with our artists to make your work in glass
  • You can show work, give a talk, or do a demo while you are here

In spring 2026 the studio hosted St. Louis painter and fiber artist Ethan Meyer, who paints dense geometric patterns in acrylic and makes hand-woven, felted, and crocheted fiber pieces. For his residency we brought in a team of top glass artists from around the country, including Ian Silverman, Alex Ubatuba, Eusheen Goines, and Matt Baricevic, to help him make that work in glass. There is a short video of the team at work.

Textile designer Hannah Ross at the torch in front of the studio mural during her residency
Hannah Ross of Hanoux during her 2018 residency.
Artists and visitors gathered in the studio
Visiting artists and the studio team.

Earlier that year, Jen Stark, a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in Times Square and at the Sphere in Las Vegas, came back to the studio. She had learned glass here during an earlier residency, and this time she made new work using stringer stacking and gave a public talk hosted by Vail's Art in Public Places program. Earlier residents include textile designer Hannah Ross of Hanoux and Brooklyn designer and woodworker Joel Siegle. Every residency is different, and future ones will not necessarily look like these.

Ask about a residency

About

Minturn Maker Space is the home of Drinking Vessels. The glassware sold at drinkingvessels.com is made at these benches and shipped from this building. Classes, studio rental, internships, residencies, and the gallery all happen in the same room as the artists who work here full time.

The studio is at 1040 Main Street in Minturn, Colorado, on the Eagle River behind Vail Mountain, ten minutes from Vail and Beaver Creek.

Equipment

  • Vertigo and Heathway glass lathes
  • Four flameworking benches
  • Liquid oxygen supply
  • Skutt XL kiln
  • Cold work room with sandblaster, Covington lapidary wheel, and MK saw
  • Two pottery wheels and hand-building space
  • Industrial ventilation
  • Smithy metal lathe and drill press
Two glass artists working at torches in the Minturn studio
The main studio floor with lathes, flameworking benches, and artists at work
The cold work room with tile saw, lapidary wheel, and sandblaster
The painted Get To Work sign above a torch bench

Contact

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