Savannah Technical College’s Center for Traditional Craft will offer monthly weekend workshops with the launch of its Historic Homeowners Academy. The public workshops begin July 15-17 and will feature decorative plaster, brick making and stained glass.
 
The HHA workshop cost is $50 per weekend, plus a materials fee (if required). The workshops are limited to eight participants each. To register or for a list of future workshops, go to www.savannahtech.edu/HistoricHomeownersAcademy. The deadline to register, if space is available, is the Wednesday prior to the workshop.  The workshops will be held at the STC Historic Preservation lab (5717 White Bluff Road).
 
Decorative Plaster Workshop: Led by Patrick Webb, this workshop will introduce students to the basics of lime chemistry, gypsum chemistry, mixing mortars, moulding theory, casting, and scagliola. At the end of the workshop students will have a fundamental understand of the plaster trades and their application to the preservation and restoration of historic homes. [July 16-17, 8AM-5PM.]
 
Traditional Brick Making Workshop: Under the instruction of Jason Whitehead, students will get covered in clay, as they learn the basics of clay mixing, hand molding bricks, and drying bricks for firing later on this year. This weekend class will be followed up by a class in October that will involve the construction of a traditional clamp kiln and the firing of student-made bricks. [July 15-16 from 8AM-4PM and July 17 from 8AM-noon]
 
Basic Stained Glass Techniques Workshop: Led by Mark McKim, this introduction to stained glass will cover the copper foil technique. In this two-day workshop, students will make a stained glass sun catcher panel. Students will learn the fundamental tools and techniques, such as scoring, cutting, soldering, and tinning, necessary to make basic stained glass objects. The class will also touch upon design and color theory. There is an additional $20 materials fee for this workshop. [July 16-17, 8AM-5PM.]
 
Plaster Repair Workshop: Webb will return in August to teach plaster repair. Attendance for the July workshop isn’t required to attend the repair workshop. [August 20-21, 8AM-5PM.]
 
Webb is a heritage and ornamental plasterer, an educator and an advocate for the specification of natural, historically utilized plasters: clay, lime, gypsum, hydraulic lime in contemporary architectural specification. He has studied plastering traditions under true masters in the US as well as in England, Germany, France, Italy and Morocco. Projects have included such high expressions of plasterwork as mouldings, ornament, buon fresco, stuc pierre, sgraffito and tadelakt.
 
McKim's experience includes teaching the techniques and nuances of stained glass, mentoring apprentices, operating local studios, Gallery operation and cooperative Gallery involvement, and exhibits of his artwork. His restoration and commission work include commercial, architectural and ecclesiastical subjects. He teaches glass work with high attention to detail and quality craftsmanship.
 
Whitehead is a master of masonry trades and the head of a brickyard in Williamsburg, Va. As a history major that loved playing with toy bricks and looking at old houses, it only made sense that he would become a brickmaker. He has nearly 20 years of brickmaking experience having fired nearly half a million bricks during that time. He has demonstrated internationally and worked with colleagues from around the world. He has spent most of his life working within and around Williamsburg Virginia and currently lives near Richmond.