A small town with a rich cultural offer. Not a town that one would in an instant associate with arts and handicraft. A quiet seaside town, with historical architecture, not spoiled by brutal architectural endeavours of the previous (communist) system. Puck has become home of a truly unique enterprise. Bałtyckie Centrum Rzemiosła Arystycznego I Wzornictwa Puck Projekt (The Baltic Centre for Craftsmanship and Design Puck Project) is an initiative that has brought together different forms of art, design, and handicraft. Three locations around the town allow to appreciate and take advantage from what our hands can create.
-Puck is just the kind of town that we needed in order to complete our project. It was supposed to be a quiet, lovely, and in some ways magical town. Our goal was to offer unique experience on a broader scale. At the same time, we didn’t want to worry about competition (which would be the case in a large city). We dreamt of creating a sort of alcove, where arts would intertwine with modern design. At the same time, we wanted to offer something else: a new form of spending free time – says Robert Gwiazdecki from Fundacja dla Pucka (Puck Foundation).
Puck Project is comprised of the Studio of Artistic Graphics and Bookbinding, located at 10 Lutego Street no. 2, Glass Art Studio located at Morska Street no. 5, and PuckGlas, the Glass Manufacture, located at Plac Wolności no. 29 (Freedom Square).
By visiting these places, their guests have the unique opportunity to take a closer look at craftsmen at work. Among the many different experiences are the ways lithography is made, or making your own decorative stained glass. The studio of stained glass, artistic jewellery, and burner glass allows us to meet the married artists Irena and Andrzej Piotrowscy, who are connected with the Academy of Fine Arts in Lvov. On display, there is artistic glass, as well as purchase-ready souvenirs that will remind you of your visit. Each of three places lets you watch, as well as work. Workshops and meetings that are held are a great way of discovering and exploring the region’s cultural heritage, as well as they are a chance to boost your creativity, a new and original way of spending free time, and an opportunity to create something by yourself.
PuckGlas, the Glass Manufacture, is located in the heart of the seaside town, in a historical building at the Old Market (Stary Rynek) that is more than 650 years old. It underwent a thorough renovation. Since the building houses a glass works, glass blowing and processing furnaces were installed inside. The first floor was designated to showcase more precious items and temporary exhibitions. The lower part of the building is occupied by a bistro, which is an intricate part of the entire complex.
The project itself, which includes all studios and the glass works, is in reality an enticement to visit Puck. – We commercialise our products, but it serves a higher purpose. We want to promote the heritage of Northern Kashubia, which has been forgotten by many – says Robert Gwiazdecki. – We want to make art more approachable. Our guests know the way new items are designed, created, and how their final form is given to then. It’s not the way it would be in an ordinary gallery or an auction house, where the pieces of art had already been made. We want to remove arts from the pedestal and make it more accessible. Maybe this will inspire some people to creating their own collections – he adds.
The galleries organise exhibitions, meetings, lectures on arts and handicraft, as well as their techniques, in form of both individual and group workshops.
Contact
pl. Wolności 29 – PuckGlas huta szkła
ul. Morska 5 (k. Rynku) – Pracownia Sztuki Glass Art Studio
ul. 10 lutego 4 – Pracownia Grafiki Artystycznej i Introligatorstwa
Puck
phone.: +48 882 846 442
e-mail: info@puckproject.pl
