The gas furnaces in the glass facilities in Tyler School of Art and Architecture, which melt and heat glass to workable temperatures, exceed temperatures of 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit.  
 
A new grant will allow them to be just as powerful, but better for the planet.  
 
A $100,000 grant from the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI) will allow the program to convert one of its three gas furnaces into an electric furnace, marking the beginning of an eco-friendly transformation. The grant will also fund the update of the facility’s electrical grid so that it can support the conversion of the other furnaces in the future, as well as sustainability-focused curriculum revisions.  
 
“This grant will transform the way we teach glass at Temple. It’s not just about the facilities; it’s about our ability to reimagine sustainability in the arts,” said Jessica Jane Julius, head of the glass program and associate professor of glass. “It really empowers our students to be part of a shift towards more sustainable practices.”  
 
The FCI was launched by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, a nonprofit created by American abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler, in 2021. It is now the leading private grant program advancing carbon neutrality in the visual arts. Tyler’s glass program received a $25,000 scoping grant in 2024, which allowed the program to audit its energy usage and identify areas for eliminating fossil fuels. This $100,000 grant will support the glass program in implementing changes, with a goal of eventually converting its facilities to rely fully on clean energy.  
 
“The FCI scoping grant allowed us to study how much carbon output we would actually be saving by switching our furnace from gas to electric,” said Julius. “Once the new furnace is installed, we’ll be able to teach students about the difference between the two in terms of carbon output.” 
 
Tyler’s glass program, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, is widely regarded for its state-of-the-art facilities—in addition to three furnaces, the facility features annealers, flameworking stations, “glory holes” for reheating glass, a kiln, a cold shop and smart classrooms. The furnace being replaced holds 550 pounds of glass and is used primarily to melt glass to get it into a raw state for blowing into a certain shape. Since furnaces need to be replaced about every 10 years, its replacement is part of the natural equipment life cycle. 
 
The FCI grant comes as the program has already demonstrated a commitment to sustainability. In 2021, Julius started a waste stream program in which leftover glass is saved, melted and reused. Since its implementation, over 14,000 pounds of glass have been recycled and saved from being sent to a landfill.  

“We are using the waste stream program as a tool for people to be really conscious about what they're producing,” said Julius. “It’s not about changing production processes; it’s about having a better awareness of waste.” 
 
Julius also started an initiative to produce one-of-a-kind glassware from the recovered glass, which is sold to support student scholarship and research. “The students are learning professional practice. They're learning a skill while raising money that supports them. It comes full circle,” said Julius.  
 
The curriculum updates supported by the grant will allow the program to align itself more closely with the university’s sustainability goals. “The curriculum updates are part of a larger initiative as a school to think about the various different ways we can engage the topic of sustainability and climate in terms of what we're teaching and our value systems, down to the infrastructure of how we're actually making things,” said Julius. “We hope students will learn to think about energy sources in every single course they take.”