The University of Toledo
12/10/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/11/2024 07:57
UToledo’s Scientific Glassblower Lends Distinctive Skillset to Miami’s Orange Bowl
UToledo's Scientific Glassblower Lends Distinctive Skillset to Miami's Orange Bowl
Eamon King spends four days of his week as a scientific glassblower in Bowman-Oddy Laboratories, mending the manifolds and fabricating the flasks that make scientific discovery possible across The University of Toledo campus.
The other three days of the week he dedicates to glassblowing as an art, blowing and carving sculptural pieces better suited to a gallery than a laboratory.
Eamon King, the scientific glassblower at UToledo, is the artist behind the fruit-filled bowls that will be awarded to the college football team that wins the Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9.
He drew on both skillsets in his most recent and highest-profile project to date. King is the artist behind the fruit-filled bowls that will be awarded to the college football team that wins the Orange Bowl in Miami on Thursday, Jan. 9.
"It's been really exciting," King said. "It looks like a pretty simple bowl, but with glass it's often the simple shapes that are more difficult. Abstract works are much easier to make."
King brings a unique expertise to UToledo, which is among a shrinking number of higher education institutions across the country to retain an in-house scientific glassblower.
The American Scientific Glassblowers Society counts its membership around 650.
Once common among large institutions, these highly skilled artisans collaborate with researchers to fix cracks in scientific glassware and to design and fabricate custom equipment for use in laboratories, often saving them significant time and expense.
"A staff glassblower is an invaluable resource that enhances the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of our department's operations, while contributing to both our educational and research goals," said Dr. Steven Sucheck, a professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Scientific glassware is notoriously expensive, and many chemistry, biochemistry, biology and physics experiments require specialized glassware that cannot be easily purchased off-the-shelf. Additionally, glassware used in research and teaching laboratories is prone to breakage over time. Eamon plays a key role in repairing these items and in creating custom glassware, such as complex reaction vessels or other specialized equipment, tailored to the exact needs of the lab or specific experiments."
Scientific glassblowers rely on a different skillset than glass artists, who utilize furnaces to create the functional and sculptural works that can be found in galleries across Toledo.
Scientific glassblowing utilizes lathes and torches, employed to manipulate a tube or rod and create highly uniform pieces. Scientific glassblowers also pay close attention to the chemical makeup of their glass, with an eye toward factors like heat and chemical resistance.
King came to scientific glassblowing as an artist. He began working with glass at the furnace and the torch in high school and honed his skills through two independent study opportunities he created in Murano, Italy, while pursuing a bachelor's degree in art at UToledo.
He later picked up the scientific side of his craft under Steve Moder, his now-retired predecessor at UToledo, with whom he worked to design a glass-blowing curriculum to complete a master of liberal studies degree at UToledo.
King took up his scientific glassblower position at UToledo in 2021.
The opportunity to create the glass bowls that sit atop the Orange Bowl trophies came to King's attention through the connections in the American Scientific Glassblowers Society, although the bowls - despite their rigid parameters - required a non-scientific skillset.
King was commissioned in August, and spent the fall working on the three bowls and three backups in his days away from Bowman-Oddy. He used traditional furnace techniques to create them in the local studio of glassblower Mike Wallace, for whom King works as an assistant on Fridays. The two completely rebuilt Wallace's furnace lining ahead of the project to ensure the highest quality glass.
"I am extremely grateful that Wallace allowed me to create these pieces in his studio and was willing to help me make them a reality from the cleanest furnace in Ohio," King said.
For the largest bowls, the pair also enlisted the help of glass artists Tim Stover and John Booth.
Their work will be seen in Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Jan. 9.
Fans can look for a 19-inch bowl that will be mounted on a base, filled with fresh oranges and presented to the victorious team, plus two matching 12-inch bowls that will be presented to the coach and Most Valuable Player.
"To be quite honest, I don't really watch sports at all," King said. "But I'm looking forward to seeing this game."