Meet Aimee Sones and Joe Cariati of Los Angeles Glass Center in El Segundo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aimee Sones and Joe Cariati.

The Los Angeles Glass Center was founded in the spring of 2019 and opened its doors to the public in June. Joe Cariati established his 4,500 sf production glassblowing studio in 2011, in the Smokey Hollow neighborhood of El Segundo and occasionally hosted public events with 141 Penn Studios. For years, Joe had envisioned a community-oriented studio that could serve the local glass community and greater public at large, this was the opportunity to create his vision.

In the spring of 2019, he began working with Aimee Sones to create the infrastructure to make hot glass available to the greater Los Angeles community through the Los Angeles Glass Center. LAGC offers free public events and glassblowing demonstrations, one on one private lessons called “Make Your Own,” group classes, workshops, private group and corporate events tailored to team building and glassblowing experiences.

Since the doors opened to the public in June, more than 1,000 people have visited the studio through local art walks, public demonstrations and classes. We offer private glassblowing and team-building experiences for corporations and private parties and truly want to meet our mission in a number of ways to share hot glass with everyone.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with any new project or business, there are always fun, little technological challenges to build something from nothing. Luckily the major infrastructure of the glassblowing studio was in place and the opportunity to create lay mostly in relationship building, community engagement and partnership, and social media and marketing. We have definitely learned a lot in a short amount of time! We have had the opportunity to implement course corrections along the way that allow us to operate as efficiently as possible in order to meet our mission, while live into our vision.

Los Angeles Glass Center – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our team is comprised of a talented group of artists, teachers, administrators and includes Joe Cariati, Aimee Sones, Austin Fields, Corey Pemberton and Cedric Mitchell. We each strive to bring something unique to the group and love opportunities to interact with the public and share our love for hot glass with new audiences.In addition to the first time experiences and multi-week classes, we like to bring in amazingly talented artists and teachers. Ethan Stern recently relocated to Southern California and it has been an honor to have him teach specialized workshops and give a public demonstration.

As a company, we are most excited to bring glassblowing to the public and create opportunities for all to experience hot glass regardless of economic status. While we love to offer one on one lessons to people who have never worked with glass before, we realize that we can fulfill our mission through public events and our upcoming youth and teen programming. We will be offering classes and glassblowing demonstrations with a focus on STEAM education to students attending as part of organized field trips for students.

We are most proud of our ability to showcase talented artists while building confidence in our students through learning about and working with glass at 2100 degree temperatures. We have also had a lot of fun with science YouTuber and the host of the Netflix series “Blown Away,” Nick Uhas, who has visited the studio on several occasions to play with hot glass and do some experiments.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
In the new decade, we see the industry building stronger ties with both local and global communities through public programming and video content through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other online platforms. In addition to social media trends, we believe that personal connections and word of mouth are equally important. We continue to find new ways of connecting with the community and building relationships. Come see us and be a part of our success story!

Pricing:

• $50 for a ornament class in November and December
• $95 for a small object (cup, small bowl, flower or paper weight)
• $150 for a medium object (carafe, vase, citrus bowl, succulent holder)
• $215 for a medium object (vase or vessel, large citrus bowl)
• $395 for a private lesson (3-4 small objects made in 2 hours)

Contact Info:

• Address: 141 Penn Street
  El Segundo, CA 90245
• Website: www.laglasscenter.com
• Phone: 310-462-9723
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @laglasscenter
• Facebook: facebook.com/losangelesglasscenter
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-glass-center-el-segundo

 

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