The Flint Institute of the Arts has received an $8.5 million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to establish a new wing and "maker space" dedicated to contemporary crafts such as glassblowing and metal casting, MLive.com reports.

The wing, which will be added to the east end of the institute's existing building, will accommodate live demonstrations for visitors and studio workshops and classes for children and adults in glassblowing, flamework, wheel throwing, and metal casting. Designed by architect Frederick Fisher and Partners, the wing also will house the Dr. Robert and Deanna Harris Burger Collection of Contemporary Ceramics and the Isabel Foundation's Sherwin and Shirley Glass Collection of Contemporary Glass.

FIA's expansion plans also include an artist's maker space where the FIA Art School's interior courtyard is situated. The school's renovation will add nearly four thousand square feet of workspace that includes glass furnaces, a cold shop, a metal foundry, audio visual equipment, and stadium-style seating.

"With its long history and culture of tinkering, inventing, designing, and manufacturing useful — and sometimes very beautiful — objects, Flint is an ideal place for providing a contemporary craft experience for artists and visitors," said Mott Foundation chair and CEO William S. White. "That's why we're so pleased to make a gift to support the new wing and maker space."