STARworks

STARworks Ornament Sale & Open House Dec. 3

2010-11-17T14:57:00.001-05:00

Hundreds of handmade holiday ornaments created by STARworks Glass and STARworks Ceramics will go on sale at a Holiday Ornament Sale and Open House Dec. 3.

To add to the fun, STARworks Glass is conducting demonstrations that show how some of the glass objects were created and STARworks Ceramics will conduct an ornament workshop.

The workshop sign-up begins at 4:30 p.m. at STARworks Ceramics and is limited to 50 participants. The cost is $5 for children and $7 for adults. The class will take place from 5 to 6 p.m., so that participants can also spend some time at the open house in the glass studio.

At STARworks Glass, the demonstrations will be ongoing and are designed to provide some insight into how some of the available hand blown glass items are created.

“This is an excellent opportunity to find a special gift for that friend or family member that you have a tough time pleasing each year,” said Nick Fruin, STARworks Glass coordinator. Another possibility for that hard to buy for person is a gift certificate for a glassblowing class or a ceramics workshop.

The open house will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free. Holiday refreshments will be served. STARworks Glass and STARworks Ceramics are located at the rear of STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise at 100 Russell Drive in Star. Call 428-9001 for more information or visit the website at www.starworksnc.org.

US Senator Kay Hagan Visits STARworks

2010-08-12T13:26:00.002-05:00

North Carolina's own Kay Hagan took time this week to come to STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise. She spoke to the STARworks business owners and toured our facilities including the garden, bio diesel factory, hot shop, ceramics, Comfort South and Wet Dog Glass.

Here Eddie Bernard shows Senator Hagan the properties of molten glass in our Hot Shop.

Nancy explains the STARworks Garden while Dr. David Jones, Central Park NC Chairman, and Anne Pärtna, garden coordinator, look on.

Senator Hagan checks out one of the massive Sunflowers growing in our garden. The sunflowers were planted by Star Elementary first graders in the spring.

We are grateful that Senator Hagan could find time to visit STARworks and see the cool things going on here in the center of our state. If you would like to tour our facility, we offer tours on the first and third fridays of each month at 1pm. Tours are free of charge and last about an hour. Tours can be scheduled for groups at any time by calling our office at (910) 428-9001.

And the walls come tumbling down

2010-08-04T14:58:00.005-05:00

With help from Frank Harmon Architects our demolition plans are coming along. Architect Will Lambeth(in white) and Tim Martin, a structural engineer joined me last week for a grand tour of our beloved building. Actually we probably shouldn't call it a tour, it was pretty much a full inspection with all ares that are affected by the demolition measured to the fraction of an inch. Will had a sweet Bosch laser tape measure, I was jealous. We spent time on the roof, in the basement and all points in between.By the end of the day Tim had a comprehensive sketch as seen below. The numbers were tiny but readable and he has been plugging them in the computer this week and the planning meeting is tomorrow in Raleigh. We will be discussing the design of the courtyard area that the demolition will create, and doors and windows to plug the openings also exposed by the demolition. Our hope is to bring some natural light into our currently unlit interiors. The demolition will create a 12,000 square foot courtyard out of what is currently a rapidly deteriorating center section of the building. In the 50's and 60's this area was the dye house of the mill. In 1976 a new dye house was built, and the area changed to house the boarding operation. Wet Dog Glass and the STARworks Glass Lab now occupy the new dye house area. Watch here for updates on the ongoing rebirth of the STARworks building!

Star Library Program paints Star Garden

2010-07-22T16:14:00.005-05:00

This week the Star library summer reading program stormed the Star Garden eager to paint the all of the flowers and vegetables in the beds. Anne started the day with a garden tour and the kids helped pick some flower arrangements for the tables. I counted over 80 people including parents with over 30 kids painting.Most painted on paper, but on imaginative young lad created this diptych of cucumber and plastic plate. Genius, I think. Total outside the box thinking. That's what you get with these kids that read instead of zoning out in front of the idiot box all day. OK, I can't back that up but I will tell you this: The town of Star is lucky to have a librarian as dedicated as Ms. Claudia McIntosh. She and Anne put together a great activity for these kids free of charge.

It was hot, but the kids had a great time. Thanks to Anne and Ms. Claudia for providing enriching opportunities for our community's kids.

Erin Brockovich speaking in Winston Salem.

2010-05-26T08:21:00.003-05:00

Say the name Erin Brockovich and you think strong, tough, stubborn and sexy. Erin is all that and definitely more. She thrives on being the voice for those who don’t know how to yell. She is a rebel. She is a fighter. She is a mother. She is an activist. AND, she is coming to Winston-Salem to inspire us to take action!

For details on the plight of the Yadkin River, and to register for the talk click here. It's free and sure to be thought provoking and inspiring.

This event is brought to you by Yadkin Riverkeeper, along with Presenting Sponsor Wake Forest University. The event will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. at WFU Scales Fine Arts Center, Brendle Recital Hall. Free and open to the public. There is limited seating and reservations are required.

2010-05-24T18:15:00.002-05:00

BALLE High: Back and ready to rumble

The CPNC and STARworks crew just got back from the BALLE conference held in Charleston SC. For those of you unfamiliar with the organization, BALLE stands for Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. BALLE is a network of more than 80 community networks with more than 21,000 independent business members across the U.S. and Canada. Every year, their annual conference brings together community leaders in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, zero waste manufacturing, independent retail, community capital and pretty much green everything.

Because the conference was in Charleston this year we were able to take a whole crew of us down for the weekend to get inspired and re-energized for the work we do.

David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the Worldand most recently Agenda for a New Economy and The Great Turning, kicked off with a call to arms to change Wall Street and “bigger at any cost” business by changing our “stories” from fictional stories of empire to authentic “earth community” stories that highlight local self reliance, social justice and living capital.

Marjorie Kelly, author of The Divine Right of Capital and Michael Shuman, author of Going Local and The Small-mart Revolution did a great job describing new models for alternative economies that include innovative tax laws and community land trusts, “B” corporation models and cooperatives.

India Pierce Lee of the Cleveland Foundation gave an inspiring presentation about Evergreen Cooperatives and their Cooperative Laundry project that demonstrates there is far more to eradicating poverty than merely creating “jobs.”

North Carolina was well represented at BALLE this year: Our good friend Eric Henry of TS Designs, along with farmer Ronnie Burleson of Stanly County and Brian Morell of Mortex Apparel wowed the crowd with their brilliant Cotton of the Carolinas Project. T-shirts made from cotton that is grown, ginned, spun, sewn and printed within 750 miles! Dirt to shirt!

Lyle Estill talked about Pittsboro's Piedmont Biofuels and Piedmont Biofarms. I also ran into Tony Kleese from Earthwise, and it was great catching up and talking to him about community based food systems.

Probably the most moving presentation was Lily Yeh’s story of The Village of Arts and Humanities, a community-based art organization in a North Philadelphia inner city neighborhood. Yeh, a native of China, says leadership is an art and art is a form of leadership. She told the story of how art helped people in her adopted community reconnect with each other and new community values. Yeh, members of her staff, and people in her community have quietly used sweat-equity, recycled materials, and other community resources to refurbish abandoned homes and construct new ones. They have also created after-school programs, a youth theater, a crafts center, and 14 parks for more than 10,000 people. Watch her presentation at the Bioneers Conference here.

Just when you think you’re doing all these brilliant things, you go and hear someone like Ms. Yeh. Humbling. Just plain humbling.

There was too much information and too many incredible experiences and people to write about here. But that's BALLE: there are mighty big shoes to fill in even the smallest communities. If you’re looking for glory, go somewhere else. If you’re looking for energy, inspiration, humility, and transformation, go to BALLE.

We're back and we've got a lot of work to do. The good news is that there are a lot of good people to help us. We just need to connect.

So it’s Monday, and I’ve got a lot of new websites to check out and emails to send and new ideas to think about. I hope you do too.

Senior walkers take over the STARwalks trail!

2010-05-20T13:22:00.006-05:00

Walk, dance, play, work in your yard…30 minutes a day can help you stay in shape and feeling good. Physical activity is essential for all of us. Children, adults and seniors can benefit from moderate activity every day. Take a walk with a friend on The STARwalks recycled walking trail. Recently area seniors were invited to STARworks to see and experience the new recycled rubber trail installed in front of the facility. The STARwalks Partnership consisting of people from Central Park NC, STARworks, the Troy Montgomery Senior Center, Montgomery County Health Department, Montgomery County Council on Aging and the NC Cooperative extension were awarded a grant from the Fit Community program to build the trail and launch a walking program to encourage seniors to engage in a healthy lifestyle. The trail is made from 100% recycled materials. Almost 1000 large rubber truck tires were recycled and didn’t end up in a landfill in the building of this 1/8-mile loop. The permeable surface allows water to pass through it, allows aeration of the soil underneath, and helps eliminate water runoff pollution from asphalt or concrete that can end up in nearby streams and rivers. The low-impact rubber surface is less tiring because it reduces stress on walker’s joints, particularly knees and feet. The walking program rewards senior participants with a pedometer after 10 hours of aerobic activity and a T-shirt after 20 hours. Come take a walk on The STARwalks trail! This project was made possible with a generous grant from the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, USDA Rural Communities Development Initiative and Central Park NC.

Walkers try out the new walking trail at STARworks. The 1/8-mile track is constructed of recycled rubber.

Walkers and agency representatives came out for the opening of the STAR Walks walking trail in front of STARworks.

A Bayada nurse takes a walker’s blood pressure. Other gencies that assisted with the event included the Montgomery Council on Aging, Montgomery Health Department, Home Care of the Carolinas.

New sign for the walking trail and first graders visit the garden

2010-05-03T08:53:00.005-05:00

This week the guys finished installing the new walking trail sign and completed a few picnic tables (in the background) for the STARworks building. The new sign will be used to convey information about the importance of walking and ways to incorporate activity into daily life.

The sign is located in the front of the building near our recycled rubber walking trail built last year with a grant from Fit Community and North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund. The recycled rubber walking surface is low impact and rather bouncy as seen below.
The first graders released as many wiggles as possible before their visit to the garden. After the kids ran around the track a few times and got rid of some excess energy we took them around the back of the building where they had a workshop in the with Anne about planting and gardening. In this picture the kids are painting signs for their own gardens at home. Anne will deliver their signs this week along with a packet of mystery seeds that they can plant at home and watch grow. The first graders were a blast and have boundless energy. They also have a way of draining the energy out of grown-ups! By the end of the day Anne, Tony and I were pretty exhausted. We had one group on Thursday and one on Friday for a total of 38 screaming first-graders. They had a blast and are ready to come back soon. STARworks Garden provides workshops for elementary school students free of charge to the school or students, but that doesn't mean that the workshops are free! Workshops like this for kids with not be possible without private contributions to STARworks garden. At STARworks with think it's important that kids learn where their food comes from and that they can grow their own food at home. Kids can come to our garden to learn about where their food comes from, how worms help soil, compost and gardening . These kids had a great time and they even enjoyed pulling weeds! To make a tax deductable donation to STARworks garden or any Central Park NC project, click here.

Join the Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks as he finishes his trip to protect the Yadkin

2010-04-28T11:58:00.006-05:00

River Rally - MAY 1ST, 1:00 pm
Swift Island boat access, Lake Tillery

Join us for a river rally. Our rivers and lakes are treasured natural resources that not only provide drinking water, but fishing, boating and recreational opportunities.

Show your support for clean water. You are invited to celebrate the river and its lakes and to support efforts to recapture the Yadkin River for the citizens of NC.

Bring your signs of support as we oppose Alcoa’s attempt to control our water. UNC-TV will be filming as the Yadkin Riverkeeper paddles down Lake Tillery for the finish of the 200+ mile Tour de Yadkin. Bring your family, friends and lawn chairs.

Sign Contest: Win $100
Bring your homemade signs to support clean water or demonstrate your opposition to Alcoa and their negative effects on the river and lakes. The person who creates the sign judged by Yadkin Riverkeeper staff as most creative and meaningful will win $100.

Paddlers & Boaters:
You may paddle or cruise alongside the Riverkeeper during part of or all of his trip down Lake Tillery. The trip will begin at 9 am at Morrow Mountain State Park boat launch and continue 8 miles south down Lake Tillery to the Swift Island boat access, on 24/27.

Directions:
On NC 24/27, East of Albemarle, where NC 24/27 goes over Lake Tillery, on the Montgomery County (eastern) side of the Lake. See a google map here.

click here to see the original page!

Camp E Ku Su Me kids help at STARworks.

2010-03-26T07:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, and Tuesday a group of kids from Camp E Ku Su Me came to STARworks to help with some much needed work outside the building. On Tuesday we had twelve kids and three counselors so we split them up into teams. Anne took a group around back to the garden where they weeded beds, turned soil and got a mini workshop on vermicomposting and general garden knowledge. My team stayed in front to help dress up the flower beds and clean the STARworks sign. The helped us for about three hours and the beds look great.On Thursday we only had six kids so we spent our time sprucing up the neglected Magnolia area on the north side of the parking lot. The dirt had spread beyond the rotten cross ties that border the bed and so the kids shoveled it back in and then straightened up the whole thing. We hauled five or six loads of leaves and weeds around back in Steve-o's truck. I would have been great to have new cross ties to border the area, but we just re used the old ones for the time being. As we say at STARworks, "it's better than it was!"

Thanks to the kids and counsellors at E Ku Su Me, and to Steve-o, one of the most generous dudes I know!

Gift from Santa

2010-01-11T14:11:00.004-05:00

Well Santa didn't bring me a roof yet, but Marla is working on it. Look what he did bring! It's a scissor lift!
If you have ever been at the top of a 12 foot ladder operating a sawzall over your head, you can appreciate the utility of this piece of equipment. It has a 20 foot working height and can easily lower heavy things that have been cut from the ceiling of our beloved textile mill. STARworks friend and CPNC board member Harold Vanderveer sold us this wonderful thing for almost nothing, he even threw in new batteries to boot. As I write this, Mac and Phil from Wet Dog Glass are using it to frame in the walls for our new bathrooms. It sure beats working on ladders.

Ahhhh water, the petroleum of the next generation.

2009-12-17T08:31:00.005-05:00

This article in the New York Times discusses the difference between the legality of drinking tap water and its safety. Its 6 pages long so be ready if you want to read the whole thing. There are contaminants in the LA water system that form carcinogens when they are hit with UV light. The solution? Cover the reservoir with black plastic balls. Black plastic balls. The photo of the covered reservoir is awesome and disturbing. Its a little too Matrix for me. Related stories on the page tell of brown tap water that people are afraid to drink. I cant say I blame them, we are not strangers to brown water here at STARworks. Our situation has been improved, and most of our brown was rust from our pipes. But imagine having to fix a water system for the city of LA. It makes my brain hurt.

I always tell the kids that our generation is worried about and trying to change our ways about Petroleum and fuel, their generation will deal with water. It doesn't seem to scare them yet, but it does me. I think water purification or desalinization are the challenges of the future.

Here is our water tower, it's kind of an icon in our town, as I guess most water towers are. I don't know how many pictures I've taken of it. Our current water problems are mostly how to keep precipitation out of the building, how much it will cost to get the water to new bathrooms in building 6 and keeping the sprinkler pipes from freezing. Its getting real cold at night and threatening snow for tomorrow. My relationship with water has changed dramatically in the past years. How's yours?

The Roof

2009-12-11T14:16:00.003-05:00

So here is the roof of buildings 2,6, 7 and 5. Pretty nice huh? it is almost 50,000 square feet of rapidly decaying foam under gravel. There are about 15 unused outdated a/c units on top of it and scads of unused conduit and wiring. It covers the north half of our building and is going to take about a quarter of a million dollars to replace. Wow.
Here is one particularly beautiful specimen that lives on our roof, the partially protected penetration. This cover consists of some rotting plywood "protected" by some spray foam roofing concoction from the 70's. You might see where I have squirted some caulk in the seams that have started to separate and deposit drips during heavy rains. Replace it you say? Pull it off and put a skylight there? Man that would be a great idea if it was not for the fact that nothing sticks to this foam stuff. Resealing the roof would be near impossible so I'm told. So, the whole thing needs to be replaced at once. If you have been to visit us here at STARworks, this roof covers our big room where we have our Annual Gathering as well as STARworks Ceramics. Santa, Please bring me a new roof, I've been as good as I could be this year and I promise I'll be good from now on!

Tree Trouble

2009-12-07T14:58:00.005-05:00

Late this Summer, the 120 year old Turkey oak in front of STARworks was struck by lightning. It took out the top crown of the tree and needed some attention so we hired Total Land Care to come and do some pruning and tell us how to take care of the tree. While Chad Phillips, a certified arborist, was in the top of the tree making a cut to the damaged tree top, he heard and felt a loud POP. You can see Chad below pruning the tree about 40 feet in the tree top. Well, that pop was enough to make Chad stop his works and come down. The tree is heavier on one side and as he made the cut, the tree started to split.

At Chad's recommendation we contacted Guy Mellieur, a Certified Master Arborist that works with lightning damaged trees. Guy came out and climbed the tree and installed a cable to keep the tree from splitting down the center.
You can barely make it out in this photo. It is the thin white line that goes horizontally across the middle of the picture. Below the cable you can see the branch without bark where the crack originates. We think it would be a great tragedy for our tree to come down. It provides us a lot of shade and is truly majestic. Now we just have to wait till the spring and see if the tree makes it so that it can be treated further. If you make it out here to STARworks, hug our tree and hope for the best for it.

The Visionary's Birthday

2009-11-25T10:00:00.003-05:00

Today is our leader Nancy's birthday. Nancy really is the reason that all of these things are happening at STARworks and the start of this whole thing. Once I told her that she "birthed" this place and it kind of creeped her out. But really, she is the one that was crazy enough to take on this building and bring all of the money to our county to fund these projects. If it weren't for Nancy, the Central Park NC offices would probably be in some boring office building and STARworks would not be here. Wet Dog Glass would not have relocated here from New Orleans, and Eddie Bernard would be a building contractor and house remodeler. The Glass Lab would not be here providing the only community access glass studio in North Carolina and one of five high school glass classes in the country. STARworks Ceramics would not be providing technical assistance and making local clay bodies for area potters, or selling materials and tools. Our building, including the old school building would have been torn down, and the place where I am sitting would be in a field of weeds. The STARworks garden would not be here and there would be no place for the elementary school kids to come and learn about how food comes from the ground without chemical fertilizer and that worms eat our garbage. Our Biodiesel facility would not be around to produce fuel from waste products and provide a solution for local disposal of cooking oil. I could go on and on, but since I can't type, this is taking me forever. The short story is that Nancy was born today, and the world is a better place because of that.

Here she is mopping the floor in the kitchen, doin' it the STARworks way. Do Executive Directors do this at all Non-Profits?

Whiter Toilets come to STARworks

2009-11-23T14:36:00.010-05:00

Our plumbing reroute is finished! Roger Miller and his crew just finished routing the entire building’s plumbing around the planned demolition area. This also helps us with the rust in our lines. After the guys cut the old five inch lines I got to look inside and all I can say is ewwwwww. Also there were some nasty rusted spots in the building that threatened to pop at any moment. Our water is much cleaner now and our toilet bowls look a little better. The pipe we used to run the new lines is two inch galvanized pipe from the old compressed air system in the building. We pulled about 500 feet down and it was really clean inside. We also had all of the valves and fittings we needed. Recycling material from our building saves us money, shipping costs and pollution and energy usage involved with forming metal.

Here is a nice blister just ready to give way if it is ever bumped. This pipe serviced the old bathrooms in the portico on the back of the school building.

Heres one from the basement of the school building, it supplied water to the offices in the front and our little kitchen. You may be able to make out the "W" from the word water and the direction of the flow, it's pretty dark down there.

Here are a couple from the basement where the big pipe comes from the town. This pipe is 5 inches wide. Can you see why the water is cleaner?

I'm not even going to suggest what this might look like.

Instead of going through the Wet Dog fabrication space, the new line is routed in the glass lab. I took a picture but the line is kind of hard to make out

amongst all of the other stuff on the ceiling. It starts just to the right of center top in this picture and goes the length of that room. It's much more impressive in person.

Central Park NC Annual Gathering a success, STARworks Blog, not so much

2009-11-16T14:41:00.002-05:00

Wow, the annual gathering is over and now what will we do? Well I guess we will start by cleaning up. Actually the clean up began the day after and hopefully I will get the rest of the chairs out of the big room by the end of the week. I think we sold most of the STARworks beer glasses the guys made and we certainly ran out of beer. We had about 200 people for the party and almost one hundred for the Michael Shuman workshop. The tour was great, the most people I have ever had. I think people were the most impressed with the way we are reusing this building especially the reclaimed parking bumpers that make the raised beds in the STARworks garden. The guys from Wet Dog did a sweet job of turning my vague ideas and crude sketches into some gallery walls that really fit in the space. On top of that they helped me hang a pretty nice art show that’s showcases the work of some of the artists that work at STARworks and in the building. This event would not be possible without the help of so many talented people both paid and volunteer that busted hump in the weeks prior to make the gathering an awesome evening.

If you didn't see the span of time covering these last two blog posts, it's huge. My usual excuse is that I'm too busy doing stuff to blog about doing stuff, so that's what I'll go with this time too. After that I always promise myself that I will get better and then fail miserably. This is how all of my journals ended up as a kid too. About ten pages in I lose it. Now it's part of my job. Weird how that happens huh? Well I promise to get better, How many people actually read this any way? Hello? Is this thing on?

Central Park NC Annual Gathering Oct 29th

2009-09-30T08:00:00.004-05:00

Our Annual Gathering is less than a month away. We are scurrying around here inside our old textile mill building trying to transform manufacturing space into a party place. Oops, it's not just a party, but it's not a meeting either. We've started calling it our Annual Gathering instead of Annual Meeting this year, let's keep the bullet points to a minimum. We will have food, drink and live music and a keynote address by Michael Shuman, the author of The Small Mart Revolution. Michael Shuman will also present an afternoon workshop on how small communities and locally owned businesses can grow a healthy and dynamic economy, followed by a question & answer and discussion session. $15 Central Park Stewards/ $25 general public.

Though there is no registration fee for evening event; RSVP is required for both events. Please register at www.centralparknc.org or by calling

(910) 428-9001.

For Central Park NC Annual Gathering sponsorship opportunities, please contact Beth Throneburg via e-mail at beth@centralparknc.org or by calling (910) 428-9001.

Workshop with Michael Shuman 2:00-4:30 pm

Registration is required
Tour of STARworks businesses 4:30-5:30 pm

Central Park NC Annual Gathering 5:30-8:00 pm

Tax credits and Incentives for green upgrades available through Comfort South

2009-09-17T13:42:00.003-05:00

Need a new heating and cooling system for your home or business? There has never been a better time to buy a geothermal system from Comfort South! There are renewable energy tax credits available to individuals and businesses through the state of North Carolina equaling 35% of the cost new energy efficient equipment. There are also green building incentives and a sales tax holiday for Energy Star rated equipment. There are federal incentives too. For more details on any or all of these programs, click here to read all about it on the Comfort South website. Get valuable tax credits while reducing your energy costs and your carbon footprint, that's good for the bottom line of any business or family!

Michael Shuman to speak at STARworks Annual Meeting.

2009-09-10T12:08:00.003-05:00

We at STARworks are pleased to announce that Michael Shuman has agreed to be the speaker for our Annual Meeting on October 29th. Michael Shuman is vice president for Enterprise Development for the Training and Development Corporation (TDC) of Bucksport, Maine. A noted economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman is widely recognized for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalization as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies in an era of big-box chains. He has authored, coauthored, and edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). The Small-Mart Revolution was just awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers’ Association. Mr. Shuman will also be leading a pre-Annual Meeting workshop (space limited, pre-registration required) the afternoon of the Annual Meeting. Save the date!

Central Park NC and STARworks on UNC TV North Carolina Now

2009-09-01T13:08:00.002-05:00

Central Park NC and STARworks were recently featured on UNC TV's program, North Carolina Now. Click here to see it! The piece features STARworks movers and shakers including Kenneth Cagle, Takuro Shibata and Eddie Bernard, not to mention the visionary herself Nancy Gottovi explaining exactly what it is we do here. If for some reason the link does not work, go to http://www.unctv.org/ncnow/features/august_09_01.html, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "play video" next to Central Park NC. Enjoy!

This week at STARworks

2009-08-26T14:41:00.004-05:00

A fury of activity this week at STARworks, lots of running around chasing pipes, wires and conduit, not to mention Nancy and anyone else that needs to weigh in on a given subject. We have been busy planning the new gallery and graphic design space in our building. The gallery will cover about 1000 square feet of one of our nice hardwood floored rooms and will give us a place to show artwork by STARworks artists. In a nearby space we will build a graphics design studio that will provide graphic design services to area businesses and train ambitious local high school students to work in a creative environment. The task of transforming the space involves clearing out old hardware and air conditioning units suspended from the former factory ceiling and rebuilding the area to suit its new use.

Here is a shot of the space as it exists now. Something also has to be done about the battleship gray and blue racing stripe that Renfro painted on the walls. We will also replace 4 old windows that used to be in front of the building so that some natural light comes into the space.

There is an open house at STARworks Ceramics this Friday from 5-7 pm. They will have new cone 6 clay available to sample in white and brown. Click here to see their posting and a great pic of Santiago and his super cute assistant.

Nick has been busy in the hot shop working on the furnace and preparing for his High School art class from East Montgomery High. He's bummed that the furnace is off and he can't blow glass, but he'll get over it. I mean, doesn't this look fun too?

Tony is sweating every time I see him, working hard to get the bio fuels building ready for equipment delivery in late September. If you see him, make sure to remind him to drink lots of water. Click here to read about the progress he has made.

Of course our resident organic goddess is hard at work as well. Anne has started seeds for the fall garden and assures me that salad days are soon to return. We are trying to figure out landscaping plans in the back of the building so that we have a great space shared by our garden, the deck and the bio fuels area. Her blog is great for all stuff related to gardening, veggies and food. Check it out.

STARworks to Form a Biker Gang!

2009-07-23T13:34:00.000-05:00

Well not really, but we do look really cool on our new bicycles that we received on Thursday, July 10, 2009. The bikes were purchased for Central Park NC and STARworks NC staff to use for errands, exercise, and to commute to work. The bikes were personally delivered by Middle Ring Cycles owner, Brian Bristol.

We love the bikes and look forward to reducing our carbon footprint by using them.

Old Glory flies over STARworks

2009-06-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

You know what's cool? Watching the American flag fly in front of your place of work. Thanks to the guys at Comfort South, we have the colors flying again in front of our building. For the longest time we had bare flagpoles behind our sign on the front lawn with neglected ropes broken and flapping in the breeze. I asked Kenneth Cagle how we could thread new lines through the pulleys and he said all he needed to do was tell two of his guys that they couldn't do it and it would be done in about five minutes. Sure enough they delivered, I was impressed but not surprised. That business is populated by can-do people that accomplish a lot with very little. Thanks to all of them especially Brandon and Brian Moore for polecattin' up those flagpoles so that we can fly our colors. You have to check out the video.

STARwalks trail completed

2009-06-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

The STARwalks trail has been installed. We recently finished pouring our recycled rubber walking trail last week. Star Heritage Day participants got to walk on the newly poured surface on June 6th. The STARwalks trail is a 1/8 mile loop that is made of recycled truck tires. 920 tires were saved from the landfill in constructing this low impact walking surface. The forgiving surface lessens stress and impact that occur while walking on concrete, asphalt or other hard surface. It also lets water pass through eliminating water runoff associated with paved surfaces. Those who walk on it say a variety of things, but one word heard often is "wow". Future improvements include benches, picnic tables and a bulletin board that will include information on walking programs offered along with other happenings at STARworks and in the community. Come by STARworks and check it out!

The STARwalks trail was made possible with a generous grant from The North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund and partnership with The Troy/Montgomery Senior Center, Montgomery County Council on Aging, Montgomery County Health Department, the Town of Star and Montgomery County Parks and Recreation.

Anthony Schafermeyer Visits STARworks Glass!

2009-04-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

Anthony Schafermeyer with Nick Fruin

From April 2-9, glass artist Anthony Schafermeyer was the STARworks resident artist. While at STARworks, he worked on a furnace with Wet Dog Glass and on April 7, he worked on a glass piece in the STARworks Glass Lab. Anthony creates vessels using his Graaled Cane technique, which contains Swedish and Italian elements. He makes the cane with several layers of color then he engraves away some of the layers to achieve an asymmetrical pattern.

Anthony Schafermeyer has been a professional glass artist for fifteen years. He has taught, extensively throughout the country including but not limited to Pilchuck Glass School, Haystack mountain school of crafts, and the Corning museum of glass. Anthony has also lectured, and demonstrated abroad, including The University of Segovia, Spain. Niijima Glass school, Japan, The Riitveld Acadamy of Art in Holland, and Kittengela Glass in Kenya. Anthony has a studio in Millvale PA, and is currently working on an installation project for the new Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. He is currently represented by Habatat Gallery, in Boca Raton FL. and Dane Gallery in Nantuckett MA.

We thank Anthony greatly for his visit and welcome him in the future.

For more pictures of Anthony at work, please visit the STARworks Glass website.

GLASS OPEN HOUSE A SUCCESS

2009-04-22T13:34:00.000-05:00

The open house hosted by STARworks Glass on April 18, 2009 was a success. Over 70 people came to see glassblowing demonstrations by Mike Linzy, Nick Fruin, Stephen Protheroe, and Eddie Bernard.

Guests were able to ask questions about the glassblowing process and about the artist's themselves. A great time was had by all.

STARworks Glass Open House - April 18

2009-04-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

STARworks Glass Lab welcomes the public to come and experience the wonderful art of glassblowing. Our artists will be doing live glassblowing and artwork can be purchased.

Refreshments will be served.

April 18, 2009
5-7pm
STARworks Glass Lab
100 Russell Drive
Star, NC 27356
(Building under the Star water tower)

STARworks Glass MArch 28 Open House Cancelled

2009-03-25T11:03:00.000-05:00

The March 28, 2009 Open House for STARworks Glass Lab has been cancelled.

Please join us for the April 18 Open House featuring live glass blowing demonstrations, videos, and artwork. You will get the opportunity to purchase beautiful pieces by our experienced artists. Food and beverage will be served.

Play Work!

2009-03-20T20:04:00.000-05:00

For the Past week Adam, Eddie and I have been installing a glass chandelier show in Pittsburgh, PA at the Carnegie Museum of Glass. It took several days to hang & tweak the glass installation of Venetian artist Maria Grazia Rosin. We had a fantastic time and met some great people.

Adam & Eddie,

Thank you so much for making this happen!

Steveo

CSA Produce Share

2009-03-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way to connect consumer and grower, each making a commitment to the other.

As a member of STARworks Garden CSA, you purchase a share for 30 weeks. We encourage you to pay for the whole season in advance -this helps the farmer to start the season and help with operating cost. Monthly payments are also available.

For more information about the CSA, click here or contact Anne at anne@starworksnc.org

Spring Open Houses, Workshops, and Classes

2009-03-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

Spring brings lots of excitement and activity here at Central Park NC and STARworks NC. Many open houses, classes, and workshops are beginning and we would love for you to be a part of it.

STARworks Ceramics

Open House - March 16, 2009 (5-7pm)
We will demonstrate some of the clay mixing operation beginning at 5:30pm, and we will be giving out small clay samples. Samples are limited, so first come, first served. Beer, wine and snacks will be served also. Don't miss this chance!

Upcoming Workshops--

Large Bowl/Platter Making - March 30, 2009 (1:30-4:30pm)
4 people/max

Japanese Tea Pot Making - April 27, 2009 (1:30-4:30pm)
4 people/max

Basic Plaster Mold Making - May 18, 2009 (1:30-4:30pm)
6 people/max

For information about classes, fees, and how to sign up, visit http://www.starworksnc.org/Ceramics/ceramics.htm

STARworks Glass

Open House - March 28 and April 18, 2009
We welcome the public to come and experience the wonderful art of glassblowing. Our artists will be doing live glassblowing and artwork can be purchased.

Upcoming Classes and Workshops--

Introduction to Glassblowing - April 13-May 4, 2009 (Mon and Weds.)
This four-week intensive class hosted by STARworks Glass will give students the opportunity to learn the techniques of glassblowing from our expert artists.

Glass I - March 13-15, March 20-22, April 3-5, April 24-26 Weekend Intensive Workshop

Glass II - April 24-26 Weekend Intensive Class

For information about classes, fees, and how to sign up, visit http://www.starworksnc.org/glass/Home/Home.html

Our Blog has Moved

2009-02-17T22:37:00.002-05:00

STARworks Ceramics Weblog has moved to:
http://starworksceramics.blogspot.com/

It would be great if you change the book mark.

Thank you,

STARworks Ceramics

SHIITAKE GROWING WORKSHOP

2009-02-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

STARgarden NC is hosting a Shiitake growing workshop on February 28'th (Saturday) from 10 am to 12 pm. Workshop instructor is Greg Bender who has grown Shiitake's for 7 years. We are partnering with NC A&T to make this workshop possible. Participation is free. Bring your own 2 oak logs. We can provide some logs for a small fee. For more information and to register, please contact Anne Pärtna : anne@starworksnc.org or #(336) 653 9551

Shiitake

Greenhouse is up in STARgarden!

2009-02-10T17:16:00.000-05:00

STARgarden is proud to present our Green-re-house or Re-green-house

(the recycled greenhouse)!

We had a nice crew out here on Sunday, the weather was gorgeous, and up it went!

Thank you, Eddie, Angela, Phil, Evan, Adam, Lyza, Andreas, Weezy, Nancy and everyone else who has been involved with this project in any way! More info about this project and other stuff that goes on in or around the garden at STARgarden

This project was made possible by a grant from the Conservation Fund's Resourceful Communities Program. MANY THANKS!

February Glassblowing Classes Still Available

2009-01-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

The STARworks glass lab has spaces available for the February Glassblowing Classes. January classes were a great success with potters, jewelry makers, and others using their creative energy to make beautiful glass pieces.

February classes are being offered Feb. 6-8 and Feb. 13-15.

February 6-8 - Glass II

This class is the follow up to Glass I, building on fundamentals from the intro course. The majority of time in the class will be time at the bench with demos in between to familiarize students with proper technique for the process. Students will also get to learn basic cold-working techniques to complete the glass blowing process from start to finish.

For more information on Glass II: GlassII.doc.

February 13-15 - Glass I

STARworks Glass Lab will be offering an accelerated, introductory course in glassblowing (Glass I) that touches on the fundamentals of glass, including basic hot shop techniques, tools and equipment.

Classes would be intensive 3-day classes meeting Friday evening, all day Saturday and all day Sunday for about 20 hours of instruction.

For more information on Glass I: GlassI.doc.

For more information about the classes, please contact Mike Linzy, glass coordinator at Mike@starworksnc.org or at 910-428-9001.

Glass Class A Success!

2009-01-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

On January 9-11, 2009, STARworks glass lab held its first accelerated, introductory class of the year. Eight students, ranging from potters to jewelry makers, were able to learn the basic hot shop techniques, tools, and equipment. The students had a great time and were able to make between 5 and 10 pieces in the 20 hours of the class.

If you are interested in taking a glassblowing class, contact Mike Linzy at 910-428-9001.

Intro to Glass classes Jan. 16th,17th and 18th

2009-01-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

Glass classes

The new STARworks Glass Lab is offering an introductory glass class (glass I) that touches on the fundamentals of glass, including basic hotshop techniques, tools and equipment.

Classes would be intensive 3-day classes meeting Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday for about 20 hours of instruction.

FRIDAY: Shop orientation, safety, history, demo, equipment operation.

SATURDAY: Gathering, bench operation, use of tools. Starter bubbles, 2nd gathers, and punties.

SUNDAY: making vessels, rolling in color, bits.

PRICE: $295 including lunch on Saturday and Sunday

Class size is limited to 8 students.

For more info, contact Mike Linzy@ mike@starworksnc.org or call 910.428.9001

Delivery Truck Bounces Off Objects In STARworks Parking Lot

2008-12-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

On Monday Afternoon, a delivery truck hit a couple of items in the parking lot of STARworks Ceramics. After bumping into the propane tank and knocking it off of its footing the driver proceeded to pull away from the loading dock. Much to his and everyone else's surprise he drove away with the support cable for the power line. Two power line polls came crashing to the ground and started a chain of events which resulted in the guard station on the corner of the back lot burning to the ground.

Star Fire Department could not do anything until the power company shut off the power to the line. Imagine 12,000 volts getting sprayed with water.

WOW!

We're Done!

2008-12-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

Temple University - Tyler School of Art

Philadelphia, PA

www.temple.edu/tyler/newtyler/index.html

On December 7th, the Assembly Dogs (Mac, Nick Phil & Steveo and Eddie stopped in last Saturday) hit the road for Philadelphia, PA to install the equipment we have been fabricating for the past six months. As of this morning Mac and I packed the truck and said good bye to the beautiful new 4,000 square ft Wet Dog Glass studio at the Tyler School of art. Temple relocated the Tyler School of Art from Elkins Park (North Philly) to its main campus just off of Old Town and has constructed an amazing 160,000 sq. ft building to house all Tyler art departments. We worked everyday for twelve days straight to meet our deadline so the studio can open to the students & faculty on January 20th of 2009. It was a long tough couple of days but it does not compare to the effort of everyone involved in the past six months. We did it, but not without Mac, Evan, Daniel, Megan, Phil, Nick, Jaz, Steveo and we cannot forget the two people that make it happen all the time, Eddie and Angela. Thanks guys!

A special thanks to the STARworks crew for all of your help.

Many Thanks,

Steveo

Wet Dog Glass

The First Bucket of Clay

2008-12-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

The First bucket of clay was going to process!
We had a test run for our Shredder, Mixer and Filter Press last week, and the photo is first bucket of clay into the shredder.

Glassblown Ornaments for Sale

2008-12-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

STARworks is selling beautiful glass ornaments for this holiday season.

These ornaments would make excellent additions to your Christmas tree or great gifts for ones you love.

The cost of one is $13. To purchase a handmade glass or clay ornament, please call STARworks at 910-428-9007 or Central Park NC at 910-428-9001.

VIDEO- Glassblowing Demonstration

2008-12-12T14:56:00.000-05:00

The STARworks glass studio hosted Randleman High School for a glassblowing demonstration on December 5, 2008.

Part 1-

Part 2-

Clay Factory

2008-12-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Now, STARworks Ceramics are setting up our own clay factory. And it is going to be ready to mix clay soon. I have been testing local clays and we are going to process those NC local wild clay through our equipment and make our ready-to-use pottery clays.

Upcoming Glass Classes for Potters

2008-12-04T09:37:00.000-05:00

Glassblowing for Potters

The new STARworks Glass Lab will be offering potters an accelerated, introductory course in glassblowing (Glass I for Potters) that touches on the fundamentals of glass, including basic hot shop techniques, tools and equipment.

Classes would be intensive 3-day classes meeting Friday evening, all day Saturday and all day Sunday for about 20 hours of instruction.

Class Schedule:

Friday: Shop orientation, safety training, history, demo, equipment operation. (4 hours)

Saturday: (8 hours)

* Ergonomics: rod and pipe procedure, posture and stance, bench orientation, marvering, hot shop communication

* Gathering: safety, where, how far up punty rod, how much

* Bench operation: positioning, how to turn, tooling.

* Use of jacks, make marbles other simple shapes

* Starter bubble, jackline

* Second gather, blocking, marvering second gather

* Paddles

* Transfer to punty, open up bubble, making cups

Sunday: (8 hours)

* Recap Saturday, continue making cups

* Rolling in color, demo an overlay

* Handles, bits

* Add all elements into cylinder shape and we'll see how far you get!

Price: $295 including lunch on Saturday and Sunday.
Instructors: Mike Linzy, Eddie Bernard, and Evan Morgan
Class size: Maximum 8

We are interested in offering a first class before Christmas on December 19-21 if there is sufficient interest. A more advanced class (Glass II for Potters) will be offered after the New Year as well as a repeat of Glass I. Other plans are to teach a glass casting class in the spring as well.

For more info, contact Mike Linzy @mike@starworksnc.org or call 910-428-9001.

December 13, 2008-- Central Park NC Open House

2008-12-03T13:56:00.000-05:00

Join Central Park NC as we host an open house on December 13th. Come out and learn about the great things going on at Central Park NC and STARworks.

Enjoy glass blowing demonstrations by our experts and take home one of the beautiful clay and glass ornaments that will be for sale.

Everyone will get a chance to learn about our exciting new classes that will be starting in January 2009! You can register to be a part of the glass blowing and clay experience classes. Spaces are filling up, so don't miss your opportunity to learn from some of the best clay and glass artists in the region.

DATE: December 13, 2008
TIME: 10am to 1pm
LOCATION: Central Park NC, 100 Russell Drive Star, NC 27356

new equipment

2008-12-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

We are currently building another gloryhole for the hotshop. The 12 inch hole will help us conserve energy when working on smaller items.

Carolina Collegiate and Agricultural Institute gets a new roof

2008-11-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a generous grant from The Marion Stedman Covington Foundation the "old school building" is wearing a new roof. Lee Hudson and his guys from Montgomery Contractors Inc., stripped, repaired and replaced the roof in about 3 days. This video covers one morning up to lunch and then we went to Martha's. After lunch the crew finished the other side. It looks great. It still drips in some other parts of the building, but under the new hat, it's dry as a bone.

Our hotshop and some work

2008-11-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

STARworks hotshop. nice!

Pillows

2008-11-25T08:31:00.000-05:00

STARworks Glass Lab blog now up and running.

Celebration of Seagrove potters

2008-11-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

November 21-23, 2008

Celebration of Seagrove Potters
www.celebrationofseagrovepotters.com

Held at the former Lucks Bean Cannery
Located on NC Pottery Highway 705, half a mile south of the traffic light in Seagrove

Friday, November 21
6:30 PM TO 9:00 PM Gala Preview $35
Meet the artists and enjoy the opening night festivities of this fabulous new festival as you and your friends have the first opportunity to browse and purchase from the thousands of pieces, sip a favorite beverage and enjoy hors d’oeuvres. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to preview a select collection of one of a kind collaborative pieces. This is a first time venture, teaming Seagrove artists, to produce highly collectable one of a kind pieces. These pieces will be auctioned at 8: PM on Friday evening! Dress is casual.

Saturday, November 22
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
$5 admission at the door
Fundraising auction will be held at 4:00 PM

Sunday, November 23
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
$5 admission at the door

Glass Shop: We Have Lift Off!

2008-10-29T14:20:00.000-05:00

It's taken nearly 3 years, but last Thursday, Eddie Bernard lit the first glass furnace at the new STARworks Glass Studio! The studio was funded by a grant from the Department of Commerce's Community Development block grant program and was designed and built by Eddie's Wet Dog Glass team. A big shout out to the Doggies who spent many, many long nights and long weekends, and lots of beer and pizza making it happen. Thanks to Steve-o, Mac-adoo, Nick Dog, Phil Dog, Evan Dog, Megan Girl Dog, Eddie Dog and Angela Boss Dog for lighting our fire!

The furnace and all the equipment is designed for maximum energy efficiency, right down to the fancy heat recuperator above the furnace. The equipment is also designed to be run on various fuels, including biodiesel or waste glycerin (a byproduct of biodiesel production.) Here's Eddie pointing out the fancy-schmancy heat recuperator:

We also have a new instructor for the studio! Mike Linzy comes to Star from the University of Louisville Kentucky where he was a student of Che Rhodes. Mike is going to be designing and teaching programs for high school students, as well as adults interested in glassblowing. Make sure you get a chance to stop by and welcome him to the area.

To celebrate the firing up of the furnace, we popped a couple of bottles of champagne and in the spirit of things, decided to give Miss Louise ("Weezy the Wet Dog") a bath in the glass shop

sink.

just a picture of the fall garden

2008-10-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

STARworks Glass In The Final Stages!

2008-10-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

We have gas and electric! A big thanks to Nancy, Adam & Beth of the STARworks staff for getting everything rolling with the install of our services for the studio. A special thanks to VanDerveer Gas, Larry & Ray for hooking up all these services.

Soon we (Wet Dog Glass) will finish the groundwork for the studio equipment at STARworks.

We are over 60% finished with the hot glass studio and will be moving faster with the completion after the last final parts arrive.

Steveo

Sprinkler Leak!!

2008-09-25T14:29:00.000-05:00

Always an adventure, our old building cried out for some attention earlier this month. Kenneth from Comfort South noticed water coming out of the ground near the loading dock at Wet Dog Glass and together with Santiago found the general direction of the flow. It was coming from a pipe under the building and they turned it off at the valve. It was hard to tell exactly where the leak was until we busted up the concrete and dug down about fifteen feet to find the poor old pipe, exhausted and fractured. Luckily the split was around the circumference and not lengthwise so we were able to patch it. Wesley Brown, the "do everything" guy in Star helped us out by supplying the clamp we needed to get the leak stopped. (It is the shining bit of blue amidst the red clay) Thanks Wesley!!

After that I ordered some perfectly mixed concrete from the guys at Chandler in Biscoe and we sealed it off as good as new...well as close as we could get. In addition to growing one hell of a yummy tomato, our resident gardener Anne Pärtna, can float concrete like a seasoned professional. The whole ordeal was a bit of a mess, but thanks to our awesome staff and our local help, we got 'er done.

STARgarden news

2008-09-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

We have a new edition in STARgarden! Check out the blog!
Anne

STARgarden Blog

2008-09-11T07:37:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in following what is happening in the STARgarden more closely, you can click on KRIIPS under the "contributors" section, then choose STARgarden. I will be posting longer entries there about what's happening in the garden!

Or look up http://miskasvab.blogspot.com

Anne alias Kriips

Wet Dog Glass Progress

2008-09-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

For those of you who don't know us yet we are Wet Dog Glass. We manufacture some the worlds best glass art studio equipment around. We have clients all over the world and have been in business since 1996. Eddie & Angela Bernard are the owners of Wet Dog and moved the company from New Orleans, LA this year. Eddie and Angela were met in Star by three new employees; Evan Morgan from Hawaii, myself Stephen Protheroe from Kansas and Mac Metz from North Carolina. We are thrilled to be here and join the Star community.

Wet Dog Glass, LLC is in the process of several contracts at the moment. An on going project is the Tyler School of Art, Glass Art Department (Philadelphia, PA) aka Temple University. This is the largest project ever tackled by Wet Dog Glass. Since our relocation from New Orleans, LA in March of 2008 to Star, NC we have been working on building a full force staff since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We would like to welcome Phil P.(forgive me polish... I will attempt the spelling at a later date) from Oregon, Nick Fruin from Nebraska & Megan Steljes from Kansas. We are honored to have them join the Wet Dog crew and we look forward to growing as a group in the years to come.

Steveo

How Did Our Garden Grow?

2008-09-10T11:10:00.000-05:00

Summer is almost over... STARgarden had it's humble beginnings in early March. Seven months later we have 5 raised beds that have grown many pounds of vegetables, a heaping compost bin, one mushroom log, and a space cleared for a greenhouse (but more about that later). Here is a slideshow of how our garden grew since we started:)

Thanks to all that have pitched in to build this little jungle, and to those who have supported us in buying vegetables each week!

Fundraising Auction for North Carolina Pottery Center

2008-09-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Fundraising Auction of North Caroline Potter to benefit the North Carolina pottery Center
Date(S); September 28, 2008 on Sunday at 2 PM
Location; 246S. Nash St., Hillsborough NC

They will have a Foundraising Auction of North Carolina Pottery to benefit the North Carolina Pottery Center. Auction will be hosted by Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales, Ltd., featuring the legendary collection of Art Ware pottery of Dr. Everette James, as well as Catawba Valley pottery, Eastern Piedmont salt-glaze, and other Art Ware pots donated by many well-known collectors and potters from across the state.

What's New!

2008-04-18T11:25:00.000-05:00

We are pleased to announce that Wet Dog Glass LLC joins the STARworks team as its newest tenants. They bring 6 staff to Star - co-owners Eddie and Angela Bernard, 3 glass blowers and one metal sculptor. Wet Dog has recently been awarded a major contract and will be bringing several more glass blowers to town in the near future as employees. They have also begun building out the public access glass studio where they will be offering glass blowing classes and other public events.

We are also pleased to announce that Central Park NC was awarded a $148,800 grant from the new NC Biofuels Center to build out STARworks Biofuels, a biodiesel production facility. The biodiesel plant will provide biodiesel for local customers as well as the STARworks glass studio and other projects. Piedmont Biofuels will begin building the plant this summer.

Finally, our new community garden project is underway. Led by Anne Partne and a group of volunteers, we are building a garden that will feature sustainably grown vegetables that will be offered for sale on a subscription basis to local residents. The project will also feature a green house that will be heated with waste heat from the glass furnaces. More on this project and the others soon!