EVERETT — Glass artist Aaron LaChaussee has no idea why glass pumpkins are so popular.
It isn’t even just at the Schack Art Center that the annual crop of glass gourds is huge.
One can find glass pumpkin patches in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, and such places as Morton Arboretum in Illinois and in Palo Alto, California, at the “Great Glass Pumpkin Patch.”
LaChaussee, the son of well-known Whidbey Island glass artists Dan and Joi LaChaussee, seems happy that people are interested in glass art, no matter what the form.
“People are excited about glass,” the younger LaChaussee said in the Schack hot shop earlier this week. “I’ve made a ton of pumpkins this year.”
Some hot shop clients have said that the chance to make a glass pumpkin is one of their favorite experiences.
“And once they buy one glass pumpkin, they want another,” said the Schack’s gallery director Carie Collver.
As the month of October approaches, the art center prepares for its annual “Schack-toberfest,” which continues through Sunday at 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett.
There you can make your own glass pumpkin or buy one of the many glistening squash made by LaChaussee and other glass artists at the Schack.
The art and harvest festival includes the Schacktoberfest urban pumpkin patch, filled with 600 blown-glass pumpkins, activities for kids, including watercolor pumpkin paintings, raffles and the opportunity for teens and adults to also make a fused-glass coaster set or platter. In addition, works by a mix of local painters are on the walls of the exhibit area.
The free event is one of the Schack’s most popular of the year, said Maren Oates, spokeswoman for the arts center.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. People can make glass pumpkins on Saturday and Sunday. Cost is $45 for Schack members or $50 for non-members.
More information about the Schack Art Center is available by calling 425-259-5050 or online at www.schack.org.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
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