"Modern Funk: Funk is Form": Performative Glassblowing with Cedric Mitchell
Tulsa Glassblowing School
October 4, 2025
"It takes a long time to sound like yourself." That’s how artist Cedric Mitchell, quoting Miles Davis, expressed the journey he’s taken to get to his own style in his chosen medium, a form of glassblowing he calls “modern funk.” Originally from Tulsa and now residing in California, Mitchell has shown his art around the world and collaborated with brands like Nike, Meta, and LEGO, but he’s never stayed away from Tulsa too long. He recently collaborated with Tulsa Artist Fellowship to showcase his modern funk in a live “performative glassblowing” session as part of their Open House weekend.
If you’ve never seen glassblowing before, you might think it’s a solo art. But watching it up close proved it’s a collaborative effort—a live ensemble act, even. On this day, Mitchell and five other helpers worked together in a continual process of heating and sculpting. They moved in sync like an orchestra, with Mitchell sitting center stage like a conductor, slowly crafting the piece with his crew. The helpers repeatedly put the piece into the furnace, quickly returned it to the maestro, and then carried it back into the furnace. Only the maestro knew when the song would end.
Watching someone who’s truly mastered a skill—who’s lived and breathed it when no one was watching—do it live is an awe-inspiring experience. What would be impossible for most has become muscle memory to Mitchell. His mastery shone through in his composure in the face of 2,000-degree furnaces and hand-held blowtorches that, at the slightest human error, could cause life-threatening injuries.
As Mitchell and his team of helpers created art, dj noname. played a soundtrack that, like Mitchell’s modern funk, was rooted in Tulsa. For some in the crowd, songs in the set like “Best Mood” by dj noname. and Steph Simon were clearly as familiar as a Sunday Afternoon; for others, this event was an introduction to a sound that they never knew existed. It’s one thing to see art inspired by Tulsa; it’s another to hear Tulsa at the same time.