[2] Pilchuck offers one-, two-, or three-week resident classes each summer in a broad spectrum of glass techniques.
[4] Dale Chihuly, then the head of the glass program at Rhode Island School of Design, and Ruth Tamura, who ran the glass blowing program at California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC, now California College of the Arts) applied early in 1971 for a grant from the Union of Independent Colleges of Art to operate a summer workshop in the medium of glass.
Chihuly and Tamura, along with two other teachers and 18 students, pitched surplus tents, made a makeshift lean-to with toilets and showers, and built a hot shop with glass furnaces (and a roof of sewn-together surplus tents).
They began blowing glass just sixteen days after arriving at the Hauberg's tree farm.
Some of the glass that was blown was sold at a craft fair in Anacortes nearby, and after the sale was well-received the group held an open house on the site.
[8] Offering programs throughout the year, Pilchuck Glass School's most concentrated activities occur from late May through early September when there are consecutive educational sessions, varying from one to three weeks in length, and offering several concurrent hands-on courses exploring different aspects of creating art in glass.
Designed for the uninitiated, the intermediate, or the advanced student seeking skills and conceptual challenges with glass, courses are limited in size (typically ten to twelve students) and highlight a focused inquiry into glassmaking techniques and aesthetic directions.
[9][10] Their recurring John H. Hauberg Fellowship has repeatedly looked for artists who are already well established in their professional careers.