Dan Battat

Having received a Bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College, Dan has taught at the Diablo Glass School. He moved to Holyoke about 2 years ago, after finally finding studio space, along with several other people to found Brick Coworkshop. With the growing community of welcoming artists and the teaching opportunities present in Holyoke, he looks forward to his future in the city.

Dan draws much of his inspiration from the Venetian masters of glass-blowing, such as Davide Fuin who specializes in goblets. He also admires the big, bold, and colorful works of Seattle-based artist Dante Marioni. In addition, much of what he does now is modeled after the practices of the German art school Bauhaus, which combined the repetition of machine technology with the vision of the artist.

In addition to running his company Battat Glass, Dan also serves the community by teaching a glass-blowing class consisting of local moms who had dropped out of school, giving them the confidence to continue pursuing an education. He also hopes to continue developing an alternative education program for the kids in the area, modeled after a glass studio in Roxbury where he worked before. Dan strongly believes that the community supports the artists, and that the artists help give back to the community in return.

Having established his company, Dan is planning on expanding his circles and his business. One thing he looks forward to doing is to hire more interns to help around the shop as his work expands. Dan also plans to move his business more towards wholesale. This would include creating a set collection of glass pieces which he has to refine and document for retail.