Heritage Crafts Awards recognise glass artists

Glass artists are among 14 winners of the 2023 Heritage Crafts Awards, which were presented in the auspicious surroundings of St George’s College, Windsor Castle, UK, on 15 November 2023 by Heritage Crafts’ co-chair, Jay Blades MBE.

The inaugural Environmental Sustainability Award, in partnership with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), was won by Lulu Harrison. Lulu’s journey in glass started during her MA in Materials Futures at Central St Martin’s in London, where she was particularly interested in finding environmentally sustainable materials from the fishing industry. Her project ‘Thames Glass’ incorporated the shell powder of invasive quagga mussels into unique glass batches.

Glassworker Allister Malcolm was highly commended in the Environmental Sustainability Award. He delivered a recent presentation to the Contemporary Glass Society about his journey to become more sustainable, which you can watch on YouTube. Allister summarises the journey so far and his plans for the immediate future to try and secure glassmaking at Stourbridge Glass Museum.

The Heritage Crafts/Marsh Lifetime Achievement award went to Alfred Fisher MBE, who has been involved in stained glass for 71 years. He began his training at James Powell and Sons, Whitefriars, in 1952, working his way up from trainee to Chief Designer. In 1957 he won a Religious Arts Scholarship to study art in churches in Europe, which helped him develop his own distinctive style of window design. Alf is Vice-President of the British Society of Master Glass Painters and Liveryman and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers. For 20 years he was the advisor on stained glass for the National Trust.

Find out more about all the winners and Heritage Crafts via the website.