Sophie Zhang

The annual Fiery Arts sale had hundreds of various, unique art pieces made of glass available to be sold. Students showed off their hard work to the busy crowd and anyone looking to buy an art piece. According to glassblowing teacher Michael da Ponte, there will be other future events as the money raised from this sale will not be sufficient for an upgraded glass shop. “It’s not enough money out of a glass sale to do that [upgrade to a new glass shop],” Da Ponte said. “We have to look at other ways of securing funding for a whole new shop, which takes time.”

Pumpkins, bowls, vases, cups and ornaments in colors ranging from red to purple and everything in between filled the tables of the ceramics studio. Eager students and visitors bustled around the room as they looked to purchase glass artwork. 

Palo Alto High School’s glassblowing and ceramics program held its annual Fall Fiery Arts Sale last Friday and Saturday, in order to raise funds for the arts program. 

Sophia Kelly, a senior and student of the AP 3-D Art and Design class, said that the proceeds from purchases during the sale go towards supporting the school’s Fiery Arts program. 

“All the money that is being raised here will actually be put towards the [Fiery Arts] program so that we can afford new tools or equipment,” Kelly said. “Right now we have really, really bad and old tools. It [the sales] will go towards new tools that we can actually use.”

According to Michael da Ponte, the glassblowing teacher, the funds will also be allocated to class materials.

“The money is going into materials and costs to run the space, so like oxygen, glass tools and color,” Da Ponte said.

Various members of the school’s community visited the event. Vivian Liu, a Palo Alto resident and Paly parent, said that she attended the event to spread support for the program.

“When people were coming in, I tried to tell them ‘Hey, you’re supporting a good cause, you’re supporting the school,’” Liu said.

Da Ponte said that there will be other events throughout the year to fundraise the glassblowing program.

“We’re probably going to have a couple more sales,” Da Ponte said. “Besides sales, maybe through donations and other avenues of funding we can get through different programs like the CTE.”

The unique glass artworks sold during the sale were hand-blown and made by various members of the Paly community. The prices depended on the size of the piece, and ranged from $10 to $200.

In addition to the sale, free and public glassblowing demonstrations were held to showcase the skills of students in the Fiery Arts program.

The majority of the displayed pieces were made during a summer program before the school year, where students worked with instructors to improve their glassblowing skills. 

At the end of the event, Liu said she was blown away by the glass work and the education from the Fiery Arts program.

“Every piece is so beautiful,” Liu said. “I’m actually really impressed by how well these pieces are made and how each has their own uniqueness. Really impressed that the students can do this.”