Hilltop Artists is a nonprofit organization in Tacoma that has provided tuition-free glass art programming to youth from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds for the past 26 years.

Hilltop Artists encourages students to be open to getting to know people that have different backgrounds than their own. 

The hot shop floor as an equalizer, one person can't make a piece by themselves. Well, somethings they can but they won't be able to progress as a glassblower if they aren't able to care, connect, and communicate with each other.

Being in the program students learn a lot about grit. There was one time when an instructor and a student were at the Museum of Glass for a Third Thursday event. It was 8 pm and this one student had been working on a piece for the last 30 minutes. The piece was ready to be taken off the pipe and put in the annealer to cool down. When it was taken off the pipe the piece cracked and had to be thrown away. Without missing a beat even though it was late and the Third Thursday was over, the instructor and student stayed to make the piece again.

Students learn how to overcome obstacles, express themselves, work as a team, and so much, and that is why our team supports Hilltop Artists!