Canberra is a Glass Act

ACT - Canberra is a Glass Act

Unleash your inner artist at the Canberra Glassworks in Kingston

There are dozens of people watching my every move and my face feels like it is on fire, but I don't care. I'm concentrating on twirling the long steel rod in my hands so that the blob of red-hot molten glass on the end does not start to ooze and drip onto the floor. It's harder than it looks and sounds - imagine balancing a large glob of runny honey on the end of a 7-foot long knife whilst standing in front of a blazing inferno. It's tricky, it's hot, it's a little bit scary and it's the most fun I've had in an art gallery for quite some time.

Welcome to the hot shop floor of Canberra Glassworks, an innovative new art space in Kingston on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin, just a few blocks from Capitol Hill. Housed in Canberra's oldest public building, the historic 1915 powerhouse that once converted water from the Molonglo River (now Lake Burley Griffin) into steam and electricity, the Glassworks is Australia's only centre that is wholly dedicated to contemporary glass art. Primarily set up to provide artists - both local and visiting - access to glassmaking facilities it also houses two fantastic gallery spaces with a range of changing contemporary glass art exhibitions.

The heart of the facility is the hot shop, where giant furnaces 1000°C hot bubble with molten glass and artists twirl, heat and stretch red-hot bubbles into beautiful pieces of art. There's raked seating above the floor where you can watch the action without getting hot or in the way, and it's connected with a mezzanine-level walkway that encircles the building. You can take a free self-guided tour of the facility, reading the information panels for an insight into glassmaking techniques and the heritage of the Kingston Powerhouse, or join a free guided tour that provides a commentary on the glass artists at work and the different workshop areas.

But the best thing about the glassworks is that you don't have to be an artist to try your hand at making some glass. The innovative 'Off the Street' is a unique chance to really find out what the hot shop is all about. There are three programs you can join: you can make a colourful glass bead with a flame torch that you can later use to make your own piece of jewellery; you can fuse a glass tile with pieces of coloured glass (great for all ages over 12 and very contemplative) or you can head straight to the heart of the studio and blow your own paperweight, a much more tactile experience as you are confronted with the fierce heat and the fluid nature of the glass as you learn how to gather the glass, add colours, blow and work the molten glass into shape.

Each class lasts for 20 minutes, and you are closely supervised by a skilled glass maker at all times. Once you've finished your work of art, it's annealed in the kiln and left to slowly cool and is ready to collect a few days later, or it can be posted to your home address if you are travelling.

The glassworks are right next door to another of Canberra's hand's on artistic institutions, the Sunday Old Bus Depot markets. The city's only indoor markets, the 200 or so stalls are split roughly in two sections. In the lower section you'll mostly find food stalls, where specialist producers from around the region lay out an array of farmhouse cheese, olives, just-baked breads, spice mixes, hand-made pickles, sauces, chutneys, preserves, chocolates, cakes, fresh fruit and vegetables. The upper section concentrates on art and crafts and the quality is far above what you'd expect to find in most local markets. The stalls change week to week, so each time you visit you're likely to uncover something new, but there's always a vast range of beautiful metalwork, painted canvases, woodwork, clothes, glass art, ceramics and jewellery - which is so popular that one Sunday each month features additional jewellery artists in the Foreshore Space Gallery. There are regular theme days, so check out the website for details before you go, but the first Sunday of the month is multicultural Sunday and features interesting handcrafts from around the world and the fourth Sunday is collectables Sunday, a bargain hunters delight where you never know what you will find among the china, linen, silver, rare books and so on.

The makeover of both the old bus depot and the powerhouse are just two of the projects that are transforming the once industrial area of Kingston foreshore into a new residential and artistic enclave. One of the oldest city suburbs it already has a thriving café and bar scene, and with the new five-star Hotel Realm (Canberra's first new luxury hotel in decades - even if you don't stay there check out the art hanging from the ceiling in the atrium of the foyer) with its restaurants, bars and Mudd the Day Spa just opened in neighbouring Barton underneath the shadow of Parliament House, the area is now one of the most interesting places to stay in Canberra. At the moment (April 2008) the hotel is surrounded by an empty construction site, but there are plans to build a retail and gallery area surrounded by parkland and it's already an easy stroll to the restaurants of Kingston and Manuka, making it a pleasant alternative to staying in the city centre.

• Canberra Glassworks: Guided tours run Saturday and Sunday at 11am and 2pm. Glasswork's shop is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm. Off the Street glass making classes are available on weekends only and you will need to book a place. Classes cost between $25 and $48. Wear long sleeves and enclosed shoes. 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Tel: (02) 6260 7005.
• Old Bus Depot Markets: open from 10am-4pm Sundays only. 27 Wentworth Ave, Kingston.
• Hotel Realm: 18 National Circuit, Barton. Tel: (02) 6163 1800.
• For information on any of Canberra's attractions or events call 02 6205 0044 or go to Visit Canberra.

By Lee Atkinson, April 2008. Photos courtesy Lee Atkinson, Canberra Glassworks and Tourism Canberra.