Stephen Montoya
Clifton Crofford, executive director of SiNaCa Studios.
The $75K required by SiNaCa Studios to keep its programming intact has been met, and in record time too. In mid-June, SiNaCa sent out an alert that the studio desperately needed funding to keep offering the 3D art programming its been offering students and the public since 2011. As of Sunday June 28, this local studio, which is the only one of its kind in North Texas, not only reached its fiscal goal, but it exceeded it, according to Clifton Crofford, executive director of SiNaCa.
“We did it,” Crofford wrote in an email on July 1. “Thanks to the incredible community support and the generous pledges from our donors, we have raised $84,809. This remarkable achievement lays a strong foundation for the SiNaCa Studios 'Glassroots' Revival campaign.”
If you’ve been around Magnolia Avenue, located on Fort Worth’s Near Southside, then there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen this old gas station turned “Glass Station” at 1013 West Magnolia. The studio’s scientific sign, which stands for the periodic table of elements that combine to make glass, Si (silicone), Na (sodium), and Ca (calcium), has a glow that attracts bystanders’ attention on the second Friday of every month.
Inside what were once oily, greasy mechanic shop garage bays, is now home to a studio where the boundaries of 3D art can be pushed by pros and novices alike. The hottest section of the studio consists of three fire boxes that blaze around 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. Other disciplines of glass art being taught at SiNaCa includes flameworking, and kiln-forming techniques.
Outside of this, SiNaCa also features glass artist from all over the country, in the form of free events to the public with a full narration of the process the artist is going through. Attendees can ask artists questions in real time to learn and add more understanding to this highly addictive art form. Since opening in 2011, SiNaCa has taught/introduced glass art to over 30,000 students and become the only public access studio for making glass art in North Texas.
Stephen Montoya
SiNaCa also provides unique and impactful outreach programming for children and adults with partners like One Safe Place, Fort Worth ISD (Independent School District), Cook Children’s Medical Center, and veteran’s programs. It’s also great for date nights too.
“I had a hard deadline for the end of June to meet $75,000 and we got there,” Crofford says. “I'm really incredibly impressed honestly that the community showed up that some calls came out of the blue and that we really got the community's attention.”
Crofford says SiNaCa pushed out the call for the much needed $75,000 on June 16th, a date he says was picked strategically. To help get more attention to the masses, Crofford says the revival campaign was based around SiNaCa’s ice cream social on June 22nd, an event that paid off with well over 25K in donation revenue. What added a bit more to the need for these funds is the fact that SiNaCa will be co-hosting the 2025 annual Glass Art Society (GAS) conference here in Fort Worth along with the University of Texas Arlington (UTA).This conference, which brings over 1,000 glass artists, professionals, businesses, and institutions from more than 20 countries to one spot to explore new techniques and ideas will be hosted here in our very own backyard. Yeah, it’s a big deal.
Now that the funding is in place for SiNaCa to continue, it will be used for foundation support and to continue doing work in the community.
“I want to thank every single one of you who made this effort a success,” he says. “I extend my deepest gratitude to the incredible group of dedicated and passionate people that make up the SiNaCa Studios Team, the SiNaCa Studios Board of Directors, and a special thanks to The Ethos Project for their support during one of the most challenging chapters of the SiNaCa Story”
Crofford says he’s grateful for the big donors that helped the studio reach its goal, along with the everyday patrons that helped make this fiscal goal something attainable.
“Yeah, we had some big pledges come through, but it was the small $50 to $5, and even $1 pledges that helped us reach this goal. Every dollar counts and to see this happen shows how much of an impact we truly have in the community,” Crofford says. “We will remain diligent, we will adjust, and we will persevere! SiNaCa Studios has a lot planned for the future, and we are immensely grateful for your support and for believing in us."
