The EnergyXchange Craft Incubator program was established to support six talented artists in starting, managing, and operating their own small business in the crafts of glass blowing and pottery. The goal of the program is to help artists at the beginning of their careers to develop both their craft and business skills, and depart EnergyXchange with the ‘know how’ and experience necessary for success.

Craft Residencies are available to 4 potters and 2 glassblowers, who are competitively selected by media-specific juries for the opportunity to work in fully equipped, shared studios on the EnergyXchange campus at a nominal cost. The members of the juries, all of whom are established artists in the area, also mentor the artists during their residency. Participants in the program may stay as long as three years and during that time receive training in business practices from HandMade in America, Inc. and Mayland Community College. Residents use this experience to develop a business plan, product line and markets, and are ready to establish a studio of their own when they leave EnergyXchange.

These studios, to our knowledge, were the first in the world to be fueled by landfill methane gas, and serve as a model for other projects across the country. The furnaces and glory holes in the glass studio burn year round while the pottery kiln is fired every week or two. Methane gas is also used to heat water for an in-floor radiant heat system to warm the studios. The landfill gas is provided at no additional cost to the resident artists, with a projected total savings over the life of the project estimated at over one million dollars.

The EnergyXchange campus and the resident artists welcome visitors daily. Come see how the responsible use of landfill gas is transforming “trash into treasure” while benefiting our planet by reducing global warming.