Take a peek into the process at Dakota Glass Works to see how they are heating up Wardensville.
In Hardy County, a furnace is blistering hot, raging in its confines at over 2,000 degrees. The glass inside it? A molten vat of liquid ready to be shaped into beautiful pieces that aren’t as delicate as they seem, molded by the hands of talented and trained craftspeople—and a few young beginners.
Dakota Glass Works is one of several businesses found under the colorful umbrella of Farms Work Wonders, a nonprofit social enterprise that started in 2016 to “ignite the spark of curiosity in Appalachian youth.” The spark is particularly bright at this industrial-style glass studio.
And who, you may ask, is voluntarily standing in front of a sweltering furnace for the sake of the craft? That would be Lucy Gillis, Alex Raptis, and their crew.
Gillis and Raptis are the two head glassblowers at the hot shop, and they are joined by six youth staff: one apprentice and five Junior Crew members—local youths between the ages of 16 and 21 who join the Farms Work Wonders program for hands-on experience and on-the-job learning in the areas that inspire them. Together, this team of heat-faring creatives designs and crafts everything from paperweights, figurines, and vases to pitchers, drinking glasses, and more, all sold at their adjoining sales gallery or used at other Farms Work Wonders locations.
The way Gillis sees it, training is an ongoing thing at Dakota Glass Works. Gillis and Raptis both have more than 10 years of experience in glassblowing, yet their skills are always developing, and so are the Junior Crew’s as knowledge and practices are passed on. The shop apprentice, the first of his kind in the program, started out as Junior Crew and is now helping to lead workshops and take on more responsibilities. “As the apprenticeship program progresses, that is part of the hope—that they’re taking on the legacy. Because the worst thing is when, especially in the art world, somebody becomes very controlling over that process. We don’t want to be gatekeep-y,” Raptis says. Gillis agrees. “We want to be door openers, not gatekeepers.”
In addition to teaching the Junior Crew, Dakota Glass Works hosts Make-Your-Own workshops where visitors get to step up to the bench and try their hand at glassblowing—with professional guidance, of course. “You can imagine when you’re introducing somebody to an art form that uses a 2,150-degree material, that seems kind of intense,” Raptis laughs. “But I think we have a really beautiful balance there.” While the crew members may gather the glass for you, you’re doing the rest—getting tools, applying color, turning the pipe, and shaping the glass. Classes and private lessons are also available for those looking to dive deeper into glassblowing or refine preexisting skills.
“There’s this kind of ongoing debate of ‘Is it art or is it craft?’ And we’re like, ‘Yes, and. It’s both,’” says Gillis. “We’re not trying to just be craftspeople with zero consideration for the art, and we’re not trying to be these hoity-toity creators, either. There’s room for both—and a third and a fourth.”
273 East Main Street, Wardensville, farmsworkwonders.org/dakota-glass-works, @dakotaglassworks on FB
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S FALL 2025 ISSUE
Leave a Reply