Whether he is learning how to create a glass-blown pumpkin or trying his hand at putting images into glass, for Rocky Kindleberger, it is all art.Glass is a passion for Kindleberger, a student of instructor Heather Joy Puskarich’s who took his first lesson in 2007 at the Pittsburgh Glass Center.  The institution is celebrating is 10th anniversary this year.”It only took one class to get hooked,” Kindleberger said.  “It’s my drug of choice.”The Pittsburgh Glass Center, founded by Kathleen Mulcahy and Ron Desmett, is a school, gallery and state-of-the-art glass studio that is also open to the public for the purpose of creating and teaching glass art.  Of the Center’s 4 distinct studios, two do not use fire directly.  Thus students like Kindleberger, who never considered themselves artists before, can experience glass without the fear of being burned.”There are so many different methods of glass making that anybody can do it; it just depends on which method you want to learn and try out,” said Community Relations Coordinator Puskarich from her desk near the Center’s entrance.The Pittsburgh Glass Center is the largest art center of its kind and is located at 5472 Penn Ave. in Pittsburgh’s East End neighborhood.  It is considered the cornerstone of the Penn Avenue Arts Intitative’s redevelopment of the Penn Avenue Corridor, an “underutilized part of the city,” through the arts.”We do our best to make getting into glass easy and fun,” said Samantha Laffey, marketing associate for the Center.  “Sometimes people think they can’t get into glass because it’s too hard or they aren’t creative or it’s scary.  The truth is that glass is one art form that people who ‘don’t have a creative bone in their body’ can get into.  All of our students walk away with a totally unique experience, and just keep coming back for more.”Along with its wide variety of classes, the Center also offers short workshops.  The most popular are entitled “Make-It-Now.””People can come in and make something for $25 in one of the studios,” Puskarich said.  “It’s really a cool way for them to figure out what they want to do.  It can be a fused glass piece, or a glass blown piece, like pumpkins in the fall [or] flowers for Mother’s Day.”The next workshop, “Make-It-Now: Eggscetera,” allows participants to make colorful glass eggs.  It will be held on Sunday, Apr. 17th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.The Pittsburgh Glass Center will also host “Hot Jams,” or open houses, on the first Friday of every month beginning Mar. 4th.”It’s from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  We have demonstrations in our ‘hot shop,’ in the flame shop.  It’s ongoing and [there will be] a feed on the Internet so you can actually see it live,” Puskarich said.  “We’re also going to start having bands.  There’ll be food and drink…it’s just a really fun time.”The open houses are part of “Unblurred,” a street-wide “First Friday” program in which all the galleries in the Penn Avenue Arts District will be open free to the public, often later than normal, and will serve food and drink.Also available are tours in which groups of six or more visitors are taken through the Pittsburgh Glass Center and may ask questions about any of the pieces.  They are then guided through each of the studios where individual techniques are explained.  Each tour is concluded with a demonstration by a glassblower.  Pirces are $7 for students and $10 for adults.  If visitors wish, tours can also include a hands-on activity, starting at $20.”I’ve been meaning to go for awhile now,” said junior psychology major Meghan Higgins in the living room of her suite in Pioneer Hall.  “I’ll definitely have to check it out.”Just a bus ride away from campus via Port Authority routes 86 and 71A, the Pittsburgh Glass Center is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.