And
Community
That art has the power to heal.
Burning Branch Studio is a nonprofit glassblowing studio convenient to Lancaster, PA built on one belief
F ire, Art,
Healing
Every class, every piece, and every event directly supports that mission.
With the mission to give back to the community and support local art programs. What started as a creative space for connection evolved into something deeper, a studio built around recovery, healing, and the transformative power of making something with your hands.
Burning Branch Studio was founded as a nonprofit
Where it all began
Rachael began working with glass in 2007 after years of searching for something that felt right. After backpacking through Europe, a chance encounter on a train inspired her to pursue teaching. She was accepted into Tyler School of Art at Temple University, where she discovered glassblowing, and knew from the moment she walked into the studio that it was hers.
After school she created glass for a lighting company, deepened her craft at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, and spent years working at a local studio before building her own. Burning Branch is the result of all of it, the training, the searching, and the healing.
As someone walking the road of recovery herself, Rachael doesn't treat the mission as an afterthought, it's the foundation everything here is built on.
Rachael Calderin
Meet the Artist
Glassblowing is Rachael's passion and her personal art therapy. Her work is deeply influenced by the natural world
Rooted in purpose
It shows up in everything she makes. No rigid shapes, no sharp edges. Just the fluid, living quality of something made by hand, shaped by breath, and born from fire.
flora, fauna, and organic form
decor
fauna
flora
Some of our favorite work
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Flora
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Fauna
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decor
The studio is used to build social and verbal communication skills for people who are newly in recovery. Sessions give participants the experience of creating something real with their hands, a trade, a skill, a new way to express thoughts and feelings they may not yet have words for.
The goal isn't just to make glass.
Burning Branch funds and supports the E.T.G. (Equilibrium Through Glass) program, an alternative art therapy initiative open to anyone in recovery. Regardless of recovery program, you are welcome here. Beginning February 2027, applications will open for semester-based classes held right here at the studio in Kirkwood, PA.
Art therapy for those in recovery
Equilibrium Through Glass
whether through a class, a purchase, or a donation, is what makes that possible.
The pandemic interrupted the in-house sessions and the community connections we had been building. We're now in active rebuilding mode — reconnecting with recovery houses, reestablishing partnerships, and growing the program back into what it was always meant to be.
Your support
Where we are now
Like many nonprofit programs, the E.T.G. program was put on hold during COVID-19.
Burning Branch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
Every dollar donated goes directly toward funding art therapy sessions for people in recovery. If this mission speaks to you, we'd be grateful for your support.
