[uplifting music] - [Deb] Each station has been set up with several things.

- [Narrator] Deb Rich has been working in glass for 20 years.

She's teaching her skills to students at the Tryon School of Arts and Crafts.

- It's great fun to teach, simply because I'm passing along knowledge to other people to learn how to do something that they didn't think they would ever be able to do.

It's a lot of fun to play with fire.

It's propane first and...

Okay, there you go.

Gonna turn the propane down.

- [Narrator] In this case, a 2,200-degree torch that's used to melt glass to make beads and small figurines.

It's called lamp work.

Rich First show students how it's done.

- [Deb] You're trying to sculpt honey or taffy, depending on how stiff it is.

So, that's another good way to look at it.

You're going to drop your mandrel slightly below the flame and you're going to hold your glass out of the flame, maybe to the right of it, and slowly twirl the mandrel away from you.

- [Narrator] Then, students, including Alisha Forester-Kidd, give it a try.

- I love jewelry and I think this just, I love the colors and just the patterns and something interesting.

- [Narrator] Rich shows Alisha how to dip the glass into the flame to make a bead.

- [Deb] Like you're dunking a donut in coffee and it's starting to get white hot, so I would take it out of the flame and keep twirling it.

- [Narrator] Rich displays her own finished work in the class to show her students all the possibilities with glass.

- These are assorted spring birds, bees, and bugs, and again, they're a way for people to enjoy things that may or may not be real.

- [Narrator] Rich's glass bead workshop is just one of dozens of offerings at the school.

- Our mission is to provide creative opportunities for everyone.

We provide a stimulating and enriching environment to do that.

- [Narrator] The school was founded as a non-profit organization by local artists in Tryon in 1960.

- Tryon Arts and Craft School is part of the identity of Tryon and we're part of that magical thing that happens in Tryon.

You come to visit a friend and next thing you know, you're looking at houses and next thing you know after that, you've moved to Tryon and you've been here for 10 years.

- [Narrator] The school has one to three-day workshops and six-week classes in glass, [glass cracking] weaving, [equipment clanking] ceramics and pottery, [equipment banging] woodworking, welding, [metal banging] and blacksmithing.

It serves everyone from school children to retirees.

- We have many students who are advanced practitioners here, but we have many who come in the door as non-artists or beginner level.

- [Narrator] There are more than half a dozen studio spaces, an exhibition gallery, and a retail shop where artists can sell their work.

[equipment grinding] - We have equipment that people wouldn't have in their homes and we have facilities to do world-class exhibitions and bring artists from all around the country, the region, and the local community that they may not otherwise see.

It's important to our town, because it's bringing opportunities that would not otherwise be here.

- So, there you go.

That is a bead that's ready.

A community needs a place to play and they need a place to stretch their creative wings and this helps develop the other side of your brain that you might not be using in everyday life.

- [Narrator] The beads Alisha and the other students made go into a kiln.

After class, they're slowly cooled.

Students can come back to pick them up later or have them shipped to their homes.

- You don't have to be an artist to come.

You can learn things, take classes that maybe that's not going to be your thing, but you might find something that you love and that you're wonderful at and have something to take home and it's enjoyable.

It's just a lot of fun to do.

[upbeat music continues] - The Tryon Arts and Crafts School is at 373 Harmon Field Road in Tryon.

To sign up for one of its many workshops and classes, go to tryonartsandcrafts.org.