Yaffa Sikorsky-Todd discusses openness in Penland. Oral history interview with Yaffa Sikorsky-Todd by Barb Elam, conducted via telephone, October 5, 2016, Bard Graduate Center. Clip length: 00:47.

Yaffa Sikorsky-Todd (YST): The nice thing about where we are here is that it’s always been real open. If people need help, they help each other. Generally, when I got involved in glass I thought it was gonna be like—I used to be a potter.

Barb Elam: Mm-hmm.

YST: I thought it was more like clay, where if you need help or you need to figure something out there’s a book that tells you how to do it. Well glass was not like that, at all. I didn’t know that when I was in grad school. It’s been so secretive forever because of things like Corning [Corning Glass Works, Corning New York] and Italy, Venice—so there wasn’t information out, and you pretty much had to figure stuff out yourself. So when I got to Penland and saw how open people were, it was really a wonderful feeling.