Michelle Plucinsky and Chris Nordin are growing a business that does more than work for the bottom line. Their
Furnace Design Studio
is at once an artistic enterprise, an educational resource, a model of
environmental stewardship, a catalyst for childhood development and
more.
The Dearborn duo, who are married with two children, run
Furnace Design Studio, a design collaboration they began 15 years ago
in a cramped, 1,500-square-foot studio space in Southwest Detroit.
After moving four years ago to a 14,000 square-foot converted
tool-and-dye shop on Trowbridge (near Michigan and Gulley), the couple
started The Glass Academy, offering classes in hot glassblowing,
stained glass, neon, slumping and fusing, and torch work. Then, last
year, they launched Young Sprouts, a summer educational youth program
that teaches kids to make art using the environment, recycling and
"green ideas."
Work produced by the Plucinsky/Nordin-led team at
Furnace Design Studio can be seen in some of the trendiest venues in
metro Detroit. (View an
online portfolio here.)
For Vinotecca, a restaurant in downtown Royal Oak, the studio produced
a wall-mounted 3-by-3 grid, each square containing a different lighted
metal-and-glass sculpture representing one of the nine colors of wine.
The focal point of Vinotecca's wine bar, the sculpture is used as a
teaching tool for patrons and connoisseurs.
For the perennially top-rated
Opus One
in Detroit, the studio created large clusters of glass grapes hanging
from a wooden trellis spanning the ceiling, their corkscrew-shaped
glass vines like so many ribbons curled with scissors. From the ceiling
at Charley's
Crab in Troy, translucent stingray-shaped glass bodies scale the walls
and massive, tentacle-stuffed jelly fish lights shine down on diners,
courtesy of the studio. And Furnace Design also made for the Palace
Grille in Auburn Hills some large, red torch-like lanterns, lit from
below, which sit atop tripods and direct serene pools of light at the
ceiling.
The studio has also created works for nearly two dozen
other environments, including St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Vinotecca's
sister restaurant, Vinology, in Ann Arbor, Riverside Business Plaza in
Southfield, and Universal Images, a design firm whose post-production
house is also located in Southfield. Michelle and Chris refer to their
work for Universal Images as "extreme custom design," noting they have
installed numerous sculptures, functional tables, desks and
workstations, tailoring each office to the taste of its designer
occupant while maintaining a cohesive look in the conference rooms and
lobbies.
Each one teach oneThe
addition of a glass academy to Furnace Design Studio five years ago was
a true boon to Southeast Michigan's art community, notes Michelle, who
learned to blow glass while working at
Greenfield Village and honed her skills at a number of schools including Detroit's
College for Creative Studies and Alfred, NY-based Alfred University, where she received a bachelor's degree.
Michelle
and Chris now share their expertise with others. Furnace Design's
academy is the only state-certified glass school in Michigan.
Taking
advantage of the studio's spacious workspaces, the academy offers a
two-year certificate program in each of the five areas mentioned above.
It also offers auxiliary courses, such as one Michelle teaches on how
to photograph, market, and otherwise make a business in art. The studio
offers something for all levels of interest, from a sampler class (a
four-hour introductory class on Saturdays) to weekend classes (a
two-day intensive class) to eight-week courses (24 hours of hands-on
instruction, three-hours per class). The studio also rents space so
students can practice their skills after completing coursework.
The
creation of Young Sprouts last year advances a number of Plucinsky and
Nordin's objectives. During the eight-week course, students ages
seven-to-14 years old use recycled bottles to make a garden cloche,
sandblast patterns on recycled sheet glass to make coasters, create
swizzle sticks from glass rods, turn a glass bottle into a personalized
drinking glass, and more. In addition to fostering creativity in
children, the classes instill the importance of caring for the
environment. Such respect for the earth is reflected in their work, as
elements of nature -- especially fire, sun and water -- inform their
work. As further evidence of their devotion, the couple is planning to
put a living roof on their studio, similar to the one atop Ford's Rouge
Factory in Dearborn. The roof, which will create a tranquil place for
artists to walk or sketch, will keep the facility 20 degrees warmer in
the winter and cooler in the summer by the same amount.
The
price of classes (up to $600 for an eight-week course) or studio rental
($40 per hour) is dwarfed when compared to the tremendous expense of
operating a glass studio. While the conversion of the tool-and-dye shop
was costly -- requiring new floors, walls, and electricity, as well as
giant gas lines, 800 gallons of paint and the removal of copious
airlines that had accumulated during 60 years of manufacturing -- it's
the maintenance that's most daunting. The raw materials that comprise
glass batches are expensive, and the furnace must be run 24/7,
resulting in an average monthly gas bill of $4,000. It's a reality of
the business that puts the price of glass artwork in perspective.
"If
I blow a $1,000 piece in three hours, every extra hour that the furnace
is going takes away from that profit," observes Nordin, who received
his bachelor's degree at CCS and is one of very few American artisans
skilled at technical Venetian glass.
Nordin and Plucinsky have
hit on a number of innovative ways to defray costs while benefiting the
community. The couple rent their space for private parties and events,
offering demonstrations, lectures, catering and corporate workshops to
such disparate groups as Fortune 500 companies, school groups, Red Hat
ladies, homeschoolers and fundraising organizations. They have also
carved out a number of niche markets, including custom-made bridesmaid
and groomsmen gifts to sculptures companies can use as corporate gifts
or awards. Meanwhile, the studio sells any number of works, from small
pendants to glasses made from Red Stripe bottles to fanciful Venetian
stemware, as well as components of a 15-year retrospective of Plucinsky
and Nordin's work that the studio hosted in April.
Recycled artAt
a recent street art fair, the couple had set up booths for the studio,
the academy, and Young Sprouts. As booth volunteers showed children how
to tear, shred, fold and fluff the pages of retired phone books
(provided by booth cosponsor AT&T) to make mini sunflower seed pots
for the garden, Glass Academy graduate Randy Bromley showed off some of
his work. The former Ford worker, who attended classes through a
partnership between the academy and the United Auto Workers union, says
he's sold his glass pieces online in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
"If
you can pick up a piece of paper and a pencil and draw something, you
can make it out of glass," insists Bromley, whose 20-year woodworking
business suggests he nevertheless had an artistic leg up learning the
glass trade. "You don't have to have any artistic background. You just
have to have an open mind."
Having an open mind is clearly a
formula that has served Chris and Michelle well. Their operation is
imbued with a flexibility and sense of fun that's manifest in the
smallest details. Late one afternoon in May, the focal point of the
vast and teeming studio was in fact the couple's five-month old cat,
Batch. Few animals enjoy an industrial facility for a playpen, and the
lithe creature had free reign, moving acrobatically through aisles and
playing on lofty, open window grates. At one point, Batch leapt onto a
treacherously narrow countertop lined with delicate, featherweight
glass, crossing nimbly from one end to the other. One misdirected flick
of the tail would have sent glass flying to the ground, but Michelle
was unfazed.
"It's OK," she said. "She knows what she's doing."
So, it's clear, do her owners.
Lucy Ament is a frequent contributor to Model D and metromode. Reach her
here.