SobelCo is proud to shine our spotlight on GlassRoots, a home-grown nonprofit that has offered the youth and young adults of Newark a magical experience combining learning and imagination since its launch in 2001. This organization was founded with a mission to ignite and build the creative and economic vitality of greater Newark through the transformative power of the glass art experience. For over twenty years, GlassRoots has been a source of positive influence bringing a new, uplifting perspective to the community along with a critical realization regarding the full impact and important role played by the arts over the centuries. While little is known about the first glass making attempts, most historians agree it is an art that started more than 4,000 years ago. Nonetheless, the same principles, and the same exquisite results continue today unchanged from the earliest years. What is most important in 2022 though, is the ability to be expressive and inventive that glass making has always provided. As a result, today’s young artists draw on the experience of glass making to communicate their own deep emotions as they design and shape unique pieces that enrich and inspire their lives and their customers’ lives. Whether GlassRoots is commissioned to create custom corporate or nonprofit awards, or the artists are developing professionally crafted and custom-made art gifts, the result is powerful. The revenue generated from the sale of these distinctive hand-blown and fused glass pieces, created by the students and artists, not only helps to gain further recognition of the power of the arts but also provides valuable financial support for GlassRoots’ resources and programs for youth and young adults. To learn more about GlassRoots, and to donate to support their programs, please visit their website at https://www.glassroots.org
