The Last Neon Bender on Cutler Street
Marisol spent thirty years bending glass tubes into light for storefronts that no longer exist. She talks about learning the craft from a man who never wrote anything down, and what it means to keep a workshop open after the orders stop coming.
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About the contributor
Marisol still opens her sign shop three days a week and teaches a weekend glass-bending class to anyone patient enough to burn their first ten tubes.
How did you end up bending neon?
Completely by accident. I walked into the shop to ask about a HELP WANTED sign in the window — and the sign itself was the job. The old bender who ran the place said if I could sit still for four hours watching him work without asking a question, he'd take me on. I lasted two hours and asked eleven questions. He hired me anyway. He said the questions were the right ones.