Downtown art studios bring life to ceramics, glassblowing, sculptures

TOLEDO – Art is a tool that can be used for limitless purposes, one of which is education. Art can grab the hearts and minds of young people, particularly children who crave more than just reading from textbooks or listening to lectures.

Graphite Design + Build

Few organizations understand this better than Graphite Design + Build, a small company located on Huron St. in downtown Toledo. The company has just five employees who make sculptures and other artistic creations for local organizations, including the Toledo Museum of Art, the Arts Commission, the Toledo Zoo, the Toledo School For the Arts and Metroparks Toledo.

The organization first hit the streets of Toledo in 2011 and has produced quality art for almost 13 years.

Graphite Design + Build co-owner Jeremy Link offered a glimpse into ongoing projects and showcased his studio, where the company’s life-like sculptures and other projects are created.

Recently, Graphite Design acquired new office space. Their office now has three floors to provide additional room to plan, create and allow their imagination to run wild. Materials from their past, present and future projects cover nearly every inch of the office.

Link has been passionate about art his entire life. He started the company with co-founder Douglas Kampfer because too many places mistreated young artists. Thus, he wanted to provide an environment that treats young artists fairly and be able to conduct business their way

“Our main mission is to help educate with art,” he said. “Our favorite thing is to make sculptures and design spaces for museums, park systems, libraries and zoos. Natural exhibits are our favorite thing to do. Having realistic sculptures and informational exhibits working together is the easiest way to teach people.”

Link notes that some people learn better with a life-size figure of an extinct animal or an interactive exhibit rather than reading from a plaque. Both he and Kampfer remember the impact of seeing exhibits of dinosaur skeletons when they were kids.

One of their most recent projects involved creating 10-foot-tall seated sculptures for a Brazilian street artist, Alex Seena. He is most known for producing large black and white murals in the streets of Brazil.

They were put into contact with Seena through LAND studios in Cleveland. After the sculptures were built, Seena came to the Toledo studio from Brazil to paint them. The sculptures will be displayed at Wendy Park at Whiskey Island for a year.

Huron Street Studios + Charmed Ceramics

Next to Graphite Design + Build is Huron Street Studios (formerly known as Gathered Glassblowing Studio). The studio is run by business/life partners Ryan Thompson and Kayla Kirk, who run their separate businesses inside. They each invest their time and energy into building their own creations while teaching others how to create art for themselves.

Thompson runs Ryan Thompson Glass. He creates glass sculptural objects, glassware and commissions and sculptures from his glass-blowing studio.

Thompson fell in love with glassblowing while he was originally studying graphic design at Bowling Green State University. To fill an art credit, he took a glassblowing course in his third year and decided to switch his major.

He also offers workshops where guests can sign up for a glass pouring experience and create a glass item, such as a vase, bowl, paperweight or other small projects. While glass blowing might seem scary for some people, Thompson still encourages people to try it.

“Glass is a little intimidating; there’s a lot of fire, and the space is very hot,” Thompson said. “But the team at Huron Street Studios is extremely skilled at working with glass, allowing people to have a safe, enjoyable experience while also getting to take home an object they made with their hands.”

Thompson recently gained popularity after appearing as a contestant on the most recent season of the Netflix show Blown Away. As a prize, he received a residency where he will travel to Tacoma, Wash. to work at the Tacoma Museum of Glass for a week.

Kirk runs Charmed Ceramics. She creates bowls, vases and drinkware in her studio. Her first exposure to pottery came in high school attending Northview. She returned to it after college, set up a studio in her basement, and practiced until she was able to make a living in the pottery field.

At her studio she offers a variety of different workshops. One option is to participate in wheel-throwing and hand-building for a one-off experience that lasts up to two hours. For people who want to dive into the world of pottery, she also offers a six-week beginner course and private events.

“They get to work in tandem with a working artist, try out the craft, get their hands dirty and play around in the mud,” Kirk said. “It’s a fun experience for adults to try something new and see what they can create.”

Kirk will be offering new classes in January or February. She also offered advice to aspiring artists.

“Keep trying the crazy ideas you have and see them to the finish line … keep trying. You need to be persistent and let failure fuel your forward progression because failing is the quickest way to learn something,” she encouraged.

Thompson and Kirk will have art available for purchase at the Local Artists’ Holiday Trunk Sale at the Edward D. Libbey House on Nov. 22-23.