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Visit The Other Glass/The Art of Recycled Glass exhibition

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date September 3, 2026

Stourbridge Glass Museum invites visitors to explore a new perspective on glass in a new international exhibition called The Other Glass/The Art of Recycled Glass. This international exhibition celebrates the creativity, resilience and unexpected beauty of reclaimed materials. The show takes place from 29 August 2026 to 27 February 2027.

Curated by Norwegian artist and author Tone Ørvik, the exhibition brings together 10 contemporary artists from seven countries who transform discarded, repurposed, geo-specific and second-life glass into extraordinary works of art. They create sculpture, stained glass, jewellery and functional objects.

Working with everything from discarded bottles, windows and television tubes to studio scraps, jam jars and locally sourced natural materials, the artists reveal the hidden potential within glass and challenge our understanding of value, sustainability and craftsmanship.

The featured artists are Irene Frolic (Canada), Frederik Rombach (Belgium), Hannah Gibson (UK), Jeanne-Sophie Aas (Norway), Gregory Alliss (UK), Debbie Dawson (Ireland), Ioana Stelea (Romania), Mafalda Maya (Portugal), Jeff Zimmer (UK) and Lulu Harrison (UK).

Non-traditional glass has been seen as discarded, dirty, difficult. The invited artists focus on the story inherent in the glass itself, its origins, its history, its second life, as much as the personal perspectives they bring to their work – giving evidence to the resilience and beauty of The Other Glass.

Stourbridge Glass Museum is at Stuart Works, High Street, Wordsley, West Midlands, DY8 4FB.

Image: ‘Mommy Dearest’ by Debbie Dawson. Photo courtesy Stourbridge Glass Museum.

Contemporary glass makers receive 2026 QEST awards

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 26, 2026

Two glass specialists have received training grants in the latest round of financial awards from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST).

The successful applicants, Tobias Newbigin and Phoebe Stubbs, join many previous winners of these prestigious and career-changing craft awards, including many glass artists.

Tobias Newbigin receives the 2026 QEST Johnnie Walker Scholar award for Glasswork/Signwriting. He is trained in traditional signwriting, glass embossing, brilliant cutting, gilding and silvering. He specialises in precise brushwork and historic lettering styles, skills that have taken him to restore period buildings in the UK and internationally.

He studied Fine Art Painting at Camberwell College of Arts, London, before apprenticing under Nick Garrett. He went on to study reverse glass gilding and ornamental glass with David A Smith MBE, and brilliant cutting with leading practitioner James Witchell. Over the past 12 years he has built his own studio practice, trained two apprentice signwriters, and continues to share the craft with others to see it pushed in new directions.

QEST funding will allow Tobias to undertake further training with James Witchell and David A Smith in hand bevelling and French embossing. In addition, he’ll learn about decorative glass techniques suitable for conservation-grade restoration with Ash Bishop at Brilliant Sign Co Ltd. This will support new bespoke commissions for heritage buildings, hospitality spaces and private collectors, and ensure these heritage craft skills are preserved.

Speaking about the award, Tobias said, “I am truly grateful for the QEST Scholarship, it will enable me to spend valuable one-on-one training with some of the remaining masters of the craft, saving me thousands of hours of mistakes.”

Phoebe Stubbs receives the 2026 QEST Famous Grouse Scholar award for Glasswork. She is a glassmaker specialising in functional, hand-blown glassware and lighting. Her practice centres on hot glass processes, including mould-blown forms, hot assembly, and bold colour. Her brand Gather creates functional tableware, decorative objects and lighting for a range of clients including Fortnum and Mason and Paul Smith.

Her QEST Scholarship will fund specialist training in chandelier making and large-scale glass at Pilchuck Glass School, mentorship with British chandelier maker Carl Nordbruch at Wilkinson Ltd, and Venetian chandelier techniques with Fabiano Zanchi.

Moving into advanced glass lighting and large-scale work requires understanding of complex hot assembly, structural arm pulling, and the integration of glass with architectural and electrical systems. Phoebe will use these skills to strengthen Gather, which has had a permanent glassblowing studio since 2023. The studio offers public workshops, supports skilled employment, long-term training, and collaborative making at scale. Phoebe is dedicated to the renewal of British glassmaking, demonstrating that traditional skills can evolve and support viable creative businesses. By combining heritage techniques with contemporary design and real-world production, she hopes to help secure a future for complex glassmaking skills in the UK.

She stated, “I am now 20 years into glassmaking, and have created a studio and aesthetic that finally feels fully my own. I’m now ready to extend that into chandelier-making – a craft I’ve wanted to learn since I was a teenager, and one I’m delighted that the QEST Scholarship is making possible, via workshops and training in the UK, Italy and the US.”

For any contemporary glass practitioners who would like to extend their skills with additional training, look out for the next funding round from QEST, with applications open from 13 January to 17 February 2027.

QEST offers three grants for training, education and skills development to support professional makers and conservators at various career stages, strengthening the pipeline of talented craft professionals in the UK. It supports contemporary and traditional craft, as well as the exploration of innovative techniques. QEST defines craft as ‘the skilled making, by hand, of tangible objects, or the conservation/restoration of such objects’.

Find out more via the QEST website here.

Image: Phoebe Stubbs (left) and Tobias Newbigin. Photo: QEST.

The Glaziers’ Company Charity opens Annual Grants Scheme

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 24, 2026

The Glaziers’ Company Charity is inviting applications for its Annual Grants Scheme 2026/7.

The grants are designed to support the training and development of artists and conservators working in the fields of architectural and stained glass. There are three categories of grant, including one to support a new taster week work placement.

Ashton Hill/Lever Grants

These are work placement grants for emerging stained-glass artists (Lever Grant)

and conservators (Ashton Hill Grant). The grants offer up to £6000 to support a 12-week placement in up to four studios, plus a £300 Evelyn and George Gee tool allowance. Host studios receive £125 per week, which is paid directly to them.

Professional Development Grants

These grants offer up to £1,000 towards the costs of undertaking relevant professional development activity. They can be used to support training, research and conference attendance.

Taster Week Work Placement Grants

Taster week work placement grants are available for those planning on, or participating

in, vocational training in stained or architectural glass. They offer up to £625 for a five-consecutive-days work placement in a professional stained glass work environment. The host studios receive £125 per week, which is paid directly to them.

Applications close on 30 September 2026.

For guidance notes and to apply online, please visit the Awards page of the website.

The Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass is a Royal Charter company, RC000912. The Glaziers Foundation, Registered Charity Number: 1143700.

Images credits: Sarah Shepherd; Rita Griskontye.

Sign up for ICON stained glass group conference 2026

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 23, 2026

Screenshot

Tickets are available for this year’s ICON stained glass group conference, titled ‘Data, Damage, and Decision-Making: The Next Era of Stained Glass Conservation’.

The event takes place from 10–11 October 2026 at The Hospitium, Museum Gardens in York, UK. York is particularly appropriate to host the conference as a feasibility study is currently under way to mark it as an ‘International City of Stained Glass’.

This year’s theme looks to the future, considering how the field of stained glass conservation may change for the next generation of conservators in an increasingly globalised world. In a time of rapid technological advancement, environmental change and political instability, what new challenges may stained glass conservators face?

Exploring themes of technology, sustainability, documentation, craftsmanship, and heritage care, the programme brings together leading practitioners and researchers to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and discuss the opportunities and challenges shaping the profession’s future.

Speakers include:

Brianne Van Vorst: From Documentation to Site Work: Saving Time and Sanity with Digital Technology in Stained Glass Conservation Projects;

Margot Steurbaut: The Past as Inspiration for the Future: Historical Glass Paint Preparation as a Viable Response to Supply Chain Instability;

Jasmine Allen & Isabelle Davies: ‘Preserving a Stained Glass Legacy’ at the Stained Glass Museum: Decision-making based on cross-collection issues;

Aurelia Fernandes: Set In Stone – Documentation as a Cornerstone of Conservation for South Asia’s Coloured Glass Fitted Jalis;

Caroline Holmriis Steffansen: Cold Paint in a World of Global Warming;

Adrianna Polcyn: 3D Scanning Advancements – Utilising Gaussian Splatting as a new framework for digital preservation of stained glass;

Bronwen Stone: A Window onto the Medieval World;

Christian Baierl: Mouth-Blown and Hand-Cast Flat Glass – traditional craftsmanship looking to the future.

New this year is a panel discussion allowing a more informal exploration of the future of stained glass conservation. There will also be a ‘Shards of Glass’ session during a tea break, providing attendees with an opportunity to raise stained glass topics for informal discussion, knowledge sharing and collaborative problem solving.

There will also be opportunities to tour some of York’s most significant stained glass heritage, including York Minster and All Saints, North Street.

Saturday 10 October: 9.00am-5.00pm + optional York Minster visit, Quiz & Dinner (additional fee)

Sunday 11 October: 9.00am-2.00pm + optional visit to All Saints, North Street.

Check the website for further details and to book a place.

Image: Detail of work on a stained glass window. Photo: ICON.

Venice Glass Week marks 10th anniversary in 2026

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 21, 2026

The Venice Glass Week celebrates its tenth anniversary this September with over 200 events taking place across Venice, Murano and Mestre from 12 to 20 September 2026.

This international festival was created to celebrate, support and promote the art of glassmaking. Its 10-year milestone will be marked by the richest programme to date, featuring exhibitions, installations, talks, guided tours, workshops and many other activities.

This edition will also see the presentation of the Observatory ‘The Venice Glass Week and the Murano Glass District’, a study carried out by Banca Ifis, one of the festival’s sponsors, analysing Murano’s current role as a production and cultural district of international significance, and to explore the impact that the festival has had on the city and on the glass sector over its first decade.

Alongside The Venice Glass Week, the fourth light installation exhibition, Murano Illumina il Mondo, will take place from 13 September to 1 November 2026. Under the arches of the Procuratie Vecchie, in the heart of St. Mark’s Square, visitors will be able to admire new, original light installations created by internationally acclaimed artists and designers, such as Norman Foster, Cerith Wyn Evans, Bethan Laura Wood and Pierre Charpin in collaboration with some of the most prestigious Murano glass workshops. The works, designed specifically for this Venetian setting, highlight Murano’s glassmaking tradition and its capacity for creative experimentation.

A significant change this year is the new venue for The Venice Glass Week HUB by Generali, dedicated to artists and designers aged over 35. Thanks to a prestigious partnership with Generali, the exhibition will be hosted at Palazzo Morosini in Campo Santo Stefano. This new collaboration will showcase the works of 50 established and mid-career artists from around the world in a highly evocative Venetian setting.

In addition, the Venice Glass Week HUB Under35, dedicated to emerging young international artists, will be hosted by the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in the Galleria di Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Square.

The HUBs are group exhibitions featuring artists and designers from Italy and abroad, selected through an open call, conceived to provide an authoritative and multifaceted overview of contemporary research in glass.

British glass artists participating in The Venice Glass Week this year include Elliot Walker (at Galeri Cam on Murano) and Rosie Stonham (as part of the Floating exhibition at Giudecca Palanca, Venice).

Find out more about the event via the website.

The art of making carved stained glass

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 13, 2026

Jonathan Soper is one of a few glass artists working with this niche and skilled technique to create glowing, coloured glass panels. Here he describes his inspiration for taking up this challenging approach and outlines his methods.

Is it possible to make stained glass window images by lightening the coloured glass itself, rather than by darkening it with dark oxides, as is done with traditional stained glass windows?

This was the question Rudolf Steiner [who was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer and esotericist who founded Anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy that attempts to bridge the gap between science and the spiritual world – Ed.] and friends asked in 1913 when they were considering making large, coloured windows for their new conference centre and theatre auditorium in Dornach, Switzerland. They wanted to show images to do with the spiritual nature of the human being, and how our repeated incarnations and karma are affected by various influences.

Jonathan Soper’s carved glass ‘Christian’s Window’ measures 45 x 70 cm. The carving marks add to the tonality and richness of this piece.

With the then-recent advent of the abrasive material carborundum (silicon carbide) and the electric motor, it had become possible to carve large, 2cm thick, homogenous coloured pot-metal glass sheets of 4m by 1.5m. They found that lightening the coloured glass by carving into it gave a particular luminosity, depth and glowing transparency.

The Goetheanum, as their building was called, contained nine large windows, each of a single colour. These produced strong colour spaces inside, as well as coloured shadows. I believe this was the first time large carved stained glass windows of this type had been attempted.

The Goetheanum auditorium window was carved by Asia Turgeniev to a design by Rudolf Steiner and measures 5m high by 1.5m wide.

Unfortunately, that building burnt down in 1922, but a second Goetheanum was soon built in its place, with similar large (5m by 1.5m) carved windows. I saw these when I was a young man, and I was impressed – to the point that I decided to try some glass carving myself. It turns out it’s not that easy, and there wasn’t really anyone to learn from.

Newly cast glass slabs, ready for carving.

Trying different grinders and grinding wheels with different glasses, I finally came across Hartley Wood dalle de verre slabs whose beautiful colours and fairly stressless glass helped me to get going. Either several dalle slabs can be joined together with resin to form a window sheet, or coloured cullet or slabs can be melted in the kiln to produce sheets of various sizes and thicknesses. The glass sheet is then placed vertically in the studio window, and the design motif is carved into the thickness of the glass using silicon carbide discs on modified small angle grinders. (Diamond wheels on a flexible drive can be used, but that requires water spray to stop the glass overheating.)

‘Rose Cross’ features gold ruby glass.

In addition, a dust extracting system is required (or do it outdoors!). Plus, a good mask and overalls, eye protection, etc. are necessary. It’s noisy, smelly and dusty, and you’ll be hanging on to a machine for hours. It is not exactly therapeutic.

Jonathan Soper fully attired and ready for glass carving in his studio.

As the thickness of the coloured glass is carved into, the hue gets lighter. Also, because of the sculpted shape of the glass surface, it produces highlights and shadows that change as the viewer moves position. The finished, carved window panel is best installed into a window frame protected by clear glass on the outside.

‘The incarnation child’ was made for the Michael Hall Steiner School in Forest Row, East Sussex.

It seems to be increasingly difficult to find good glass for this work, as many excellent glass companies have closed in recent times. Ideally the glass needs to be homogenous and well annealed with no stress in it. Barium crystal, as made by Glasma of Sweden, is excellent, as is lead crystal, which is nice and soft. Ordinary soda lime glass is OK, but not all glasses are equal.

Commissions

Over the decades I have undertaken several commissions, the largest to date being one for the Kulturhus in Ytterjarna, Sweden. There I trained other artists, and we spent nearly two years making 12 carved coloured windows. The largest were 5m x 1.5m and positioned along each side of the beautiful theatre/concert hall auditorium. They had quite light hues, using Linshammar glass made with Glasma batch, coloured with metallic oxides, including two gold ruby windows. This was a wonderful project, with motifs designed by Arne Klingborg (who also celebrated the Anthroposophy perspective), installed in a beautiful building.

Ytterjarna auditorium showing six carved glass panels in the north side wall.

Aside from such projects, I have worked on smaller commissions, and I sell small hanging panels from time to time. I have a small studio in Forest Row, UK, but I’m not good at promoting my work.

An example of a smaller piece of carved stained glass by Jonathan Soper.

By Jonathan Soper

Find out more about Jonathan Soper via his Instagram account: @jonathansglass

Main feature image: ‘Undine’, by Jonathan Soper after Arne Klingborg, is made from Kokomo glass and measures 73cm x 46cm. All images courtesy of the artist.

Apply for Toyama International Glass Exhibition 2027

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date August 9, 2026

Glass artists are invited to apply for the next Toyama International Glass Exhibition, which will be held at the Toyama Glass Art Museum in Japan in July 2027.

The exhibition is an international, open-call, triennale established to showcase the latest achievements in contemporary glass art from around the world and contribute to the further development of the field.

Since its inaugural edition in 2018, the exhibition has been held three times. In the most recent edition in 2024, 785 works were submitted from 50 countries and regions worldwide.

The exhibition will spotlight contemporary glass, which has diversified rapidly into a dynamic artform filled with limitless creative potential. The organisers state, “It is our hope that this exhibition will open new horizons for contemporary glass art while also serving as an opportunity for Toyama, known as the ‘City of Glass’, to further establish itself as a global centre for glass art.”

Prizes

Grand Prize: JPY 3,000,000 (about £13,780) (1 work)

Gold Prize: JPY 1,000,000 (about £4,500) (1 work)

Silver Prize: JPY 300,000 (about £1,378) (2 works)

Jury Prize: JPY 100,000 (about £459) (6 works)

It is a condition of the competition that the winning Grand Prize and Gold Prize entries will be donated to the Toyama Glass Art Museum.

Judging panel

Tami Landis, Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass, Corning Museum of Glass (USA); Uta Klotz, Editor-in-chief, NEUES GLAS – NEW GLASS: art & architecture (Germany); Aimee Frodsham, Director of Canberra Glassworks (Australia)

Cho Hyeyoung, Independent curator and Honorary Chairperson, The Korea Association of Art and Design (Republic of Korea); Washida Meruro, Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Associate Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan); and Tsuchiuda Ruriko, Director of Toyama Glass Art Museum (Japan).

There will be two rounds of judging, the first based on submitted images. The selection of 50 works for the exhibition will take place on 20 January 2027, with results announced on the website, and the chosen artists informed.

The second judging will examine the actual works in April 2027 and select 10 prizewinning pieces. These results will be announced on the website in mid-May 2027, and the artists whose works have won prizes will be informed.

The Toyama International Glass Exhibition takes place from 10 July 2027 – 11 October 2027 at Toyama Glass Art Museum (Floor 2-3, Exhibition Rooms 1-3), Toyama, Japan.

The opening ceremony, award ceremony, and private view will be held prior to the opening of the exhibition, on 9 July 2027.

The application deadline is 11 November 2026. There is no submission fee but transport of selected artworks to the venue is the responsibility of the artist.

Find out more and apply via this link.

Glassworks: Sunderland planning application submitted

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date July 28, 2026

After months of design work and consultation with artists, makers and creative businesses, Sunderland City Council has received an application to develop the historic former Peter Smith Antiques building in Sunniside into Glassworks: Sunderland, a vibrant hub for glassmaking, ceramics and creative production.

This new project was launched in response to the final closure of the iconic National Glass Centre (NGC) on 31 July 2026, which was strongly criticised and campaigned against by the glass and wider community. The NGC’s owner, the University of Sunderland, cited structural issues, energy inefficiency and a multi-million pound repair bill as reasons that the NGC was no longer financially viable.

Sunderland Culture’s leadership team has said that Glassworks: Sunderland is not a like-for-like replacement for the NGC, but a rescue intervention designed to save the city’s 1,300-year-old glassmaking heritage from disappearing. There will be no café or galleries like the NGC had, but a strong focus on a maker ecosystem.

If planning permission is approved (a formal decision is expected in early autumn 2026), Glassworks: Sunderland will provide specialist facilities, workspaces, learning opportunities and business support for glassmakers and creative enterprises.

The planning application reveals:

The public will be able to access the ground and first floor for classes and activities, but the building is primarily conceived as a space for glassmakers;

Each discipline of glassmaking and ceramics that was available at the NGC will be retained in the new facility;

The building has been designed with equitable access throughout with a lift reaching all floors;

The design retains the historic fabric of the building, with exposed brick, stone staircases and original features from the 19th century Durham and Sunderland County Institute for the Blind;

The upper floors are available for flexible creative offices and maker studios – more studio space is proposed than was available at the NGC;

It will have an energy efficient and decarbonising layout backed by a dedicated on-site substation;

Heat produced from the 1,150^oC furnaces will be recovered to warm the co-working and public spaces.

Tom Billington, Chair of Sunderland Culture, which submitted the planning application, explained: “The submission of our application is a significant milestone for Glassworks: Sunderland and for the ongoing transformation of Sunniside.

“It’s important to stress that local, regional and national artists, makers and creative businesses have played a central role in shaping these proposals through workshops, site visits and surveys. Their involvement has helped ensure the project responds directly to the needs of Sunderland’s creative community while building on the city’s internationally recognised glassmaking heritage.

“The progress made to date is hugely encouraging and demonstrates the ambition, partnership and commitment that exists to make this vision for glassmaking a reality.”

Sunderland-based glass artist Helen Gordon said: “The plans for Glassworks are well considered. They include the vital specialist equipment that glass artists like me need to continue producing work and upholding Sunderland’s global reputation for contemporary glass. By providing a sustainable home for glass and ceramic artists, the facility will help safeguard specialist skills, support local creative industries, and ensure that Sunderland remains a leading centre for contemporary glass for future generations.”

If approved, Glassworks: Sunderland is scheduled to open in 2028, leaving a two-year gap between the closure of the NGC and the launch of the new facilities. In the interim, Sunderland Culture is establishing a transition programme including commissions, business support, residencies, bursaries, commissions, temporary workspaces and activities to maintain artist and audience engagement.

A grant of £5 million towards the project will come from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Cultural Development Fund, which is administered by Arts Council England. Sunderland Culture is leading fundraising to secure match funding to realise the project.

The Contemporary Glass Society supports the development of Glassworks: Sunderland, to keep the possibility of glassmaking alive in Sunderland, as noted in an open letter, but none of the 204 signatories of that letter agreed with the closure of the NGC that brought this situation about.

See the architect-designed images of the proposed Glassworks: Sunderland via Sunderland Culture.

Image: The former Peter Smith Antiques building where Glassworks: Sunderland will be situated if planning permission is granted.

British Glass Biennale 2026 artists announced for IFOG

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date July 27, 2026

A total of 82 artists has been selected for the British Glass Biennale 2026 at this year’s International Festival of Glass.

Held at The World of Glass in St Helens, the Biennale will showcase the finest work being made in glass across Britain today, from bold, sculptural statements to delicate, technically intricate pieces, representing the full breadth of what is possible in this endlessly versatile material.

The exhibition opens to the public on Friday 28 August 2026 and runs until 1 November 2026, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to experience one of the most significant events in the British art calendar.

The Biennale is a juried exhibition, open to artists who are British nationals or who are living and working in the UK. Submissions were assessed by a distinguished international panel, including Tami Landis, Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass; Jeffrey Sarmiento, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design at Australian National University; and established and awarded UK glass artist Louis Thompson, who has worked with glass independently and collaboratively for over 30 years.

All works in the exhibition are available to purchase, making this a unique opportunity for collectors, institutions, and first-time buyers to acquire exceptional contemporary glass art.

All participating artists have the chance to be selected for the prestigious ‘Best in Show’ award, which is a £3,000 prize. The winner will be announced at a special opening ceremony in St Helens in August.

Participating artists

Anthony Amoako Atttah, Grace Ayson, Emma Baker, Lisa Bate, Heike Brachlow, Mils Bridgewater, Sarah Brown, Steve Brown, Edmond Byrne, Phillipa Candy, Keeryong Choi, Terri Colledge, Mary Corkery, Jeff Cunningham, Rachel Darbourne, Calum Dawes, Christopher Day, James Devereux, Jiayun Ding, Celia Dowson, Sally Fawkes, Elena Fleury-Rojo, Jahday Ford, Zoe Garner, Hannah Gibson, Stephen Gillies, Emma Goring, Lulu Harrison, Crispian Heath, Flora Jamieson, Kate Jones, Joshua Kerley, Hassina Khan, Aria Kiani, Alison Kinnaird, Laura Kriefman, Isabella Kullmann, Monette Larsen, Jon Lewis, Julie Light, Alison Lowry, Geoffrey Mann, Joanna Manousis, Guy Marshall-Brown, Hannah Masi, James Maskrey, Gayle Matthias, Joanne Mitchell, Tracy Nicholls, Michele Oberdieck, Marzena Ostromecka, Marged Owain, Helen Pailing, Jade Pinnell, Stacey Poultney, Verity Pulford, Georgia Redpath, Liam Reeves, Colin Reid, Helen Restorick, Bruno Romanelli, Layne Rowe, Sally Scott, Dian Shi, Amanda Simmons, Elizabeth Sinkova, Suzie Smith, Andrea Spencer, Madison Sprague, Helen Stokes, Alison Stott, Ayako Tani, Angela Thwaites, Jane Vincent, Elliot Walker, Annie Wasdell, Zac Weinberg, Sarah Wiberley, Bethany Wood, Marie Worre Hastrup Holm, Jeff Zimmer and Maria Zulueta.

In addition to the British Glass Biennale 2026, The World of Glass will be hosting the International Bead and Jewellery Biennale, celebrating wearable art at the intersection of glass, jewellery and contemporary craft.

It will also showcase the work of selected Contemporary Glass Society members in the ‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’ exhibition, with pieces in 2D and 3D measuring up to 20 x 10 x 10cm. The show runs from 27 August to 31 October 2026 and includes the creations of makers at all stages of their glassmaking careers in a wide range of techniques. All artworks will be for sale at reasonable prices.

In addition, new organiser of the International Festival of Glass 2026, the Glass Art Society (GAS), has selected work from members around the world for its International Member Exhibition, so visitors will also be able to see glass art from countries including Japan, Mexico, Norway, Australia, Uruguay and Ireland. This show runs from 28 August to 1 November 2026.

The World of Glass will also host live glassmaking demonstrations, hands-on workshops, family activities, community art projects and more. These core activities of the International Festival of Glass 2026 take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (28-31 August 2026).

The exhibitions are free to visit.

Prior to the International Festival of Glass, artists can sign up for a range of Masterclasses. Find out more details here.

The World of Glass is at Chalon Way E, St Helens WA10 1BX, UK. Check the website for opening days/times.

CRACKED exhibition confronts barriers to glass artists

Post author By Linda Banks, Editor
Post date July 15, 2026

An artist-led exhibition at Street and a Half in St Helens will take place as a satellite event to the International Festival of Glass (27-31 August 2026). The show, ‘CRACKED: A Contemporary Glass Exhibition Beyond Tradition’ examines the gap between St Helens’ world-famous glass heritage and the barriers facing artists who want to work with the material today.

The exhibition presents the work of six artists (Amber Hahn, Gee Collins, Liam Cosford, John Carney, Mali Non and Lucy Evans) who were brought together as part of Gee’s research (funded by Developing Your Creative Practice, Arts Council England) that focused on understanding curation and fabrication of contemporary sculpture, alongside learning more about where grassroots artists fit in to St Helens’ industrial heritage.

Over a 12-month period, Gee organised peer sharing sessions, with the artists meeting online as well as visiting Frieze art fair, Pilkington Glass Factory, The World of Glass, Stourbridge Glass Museum and Sunderland Glass Centre. They also took part in workshops on stained glass, glass blowing, and lamp work.

Liam Cosford (Southend-on-Sea) uses glass engraving and cutting to explore interconnectedness through ‘crud’. With glass acting as a storage medium for dirt and grime, these marks become a record of a moment that is so often cleaned away, now forever etched upon the surface. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Their artworks take a playful approach to reflecting both the possibilities of glass and the practical barriers surrounding it: the cost of specialist facilities, the technical knowledge required to work safely, the energy involved in heating and forming the material and the limited opportunities available for independent experimentation. For example, the lack of access to professional lighting means an artist includes lights within their sculptures, or an artist purposefully includes dirt and fingerprints within a glass work that those used to working with glass try to buff out.

The artists have approached glass through cold engraving, computer-generated textures, industrial float-glass sheets, traditional vessels and experimental sculptural processes as their exhibits address what is needed to ensure that the area’s industrial heritage can support new creative practice.

They highlight that St Helens helped transform the way glass is produced around the world, continues to manufacture it at an industrial scale and is now home to major research into the future of low-carbon glassmaking. Yet, for independent artists living and working in the region, glass remains one of the hardest materials to access.

Blown glass vessels by Amber Hahn (London). Amber uses glassblowing and writing to explore sensory experience and embodied relationships with materials and environments. Photo: Sam Sweet.

They explain that CRACKED begins with a contradiction at the heart of contemporary glassmaking. St Helens helped make high-quality glass available across the world. The float-glass process developed in the town transformed the manufacture of windows, buildings and vehicles and became an international industry standard. However, access to industrial infrastructure is not the same as access for artists. Large-scale factories and research facilities are designed for commercial manufacturing and technical trials. Independent artists need something different: affordable workspace, specialist equipment, practical guidance, time to experiment and the freedom to make mistakes.

St Helens-based Lucy Evans said, “Since graduating, I’ve encountered several barriers when trying to access the glass industry. Being a part of an exhibition that is putting a spotlight on the medium is incredibly exciting to me and gives me the rare chance to showcase my work in a glass-focused environment.”

‘A Younger You and a Younger Me’ by Lucy Evans uses slumped float glass. Photo: Lucy Evans.

Skills once acquired through large workplaces and passed between generations are now more likely to be encountered through heritage organisations, education, limited studio opportunities or short-term cultural programmes.

CRACKED considers what is lost when a material remains central to the identity of a place but becomes distant from the daily lives of many of the people who live there.

It also asks a wider question relevant to former industrial towns across the UK: can industrial heritage remain alive without giving new generations meaningful opportunities to work with it?

The exhibition creates space to discuss access, labour, experimentation and the conditions under which contemporary glass art is made. The group is using this to garner support and raise funds for an emerging glass apprenticeship, which would provide a young artist from the area with funds to access a glass hotshop and undertake important training.

Rather than presenting St Helens’ glass history as something finished, CRACKED connects that history to the future. The artists’ work considers how traditional craft can sit alongside digital processes, industrial materials and contemporary sculpture – and how glass can be understood not only as a beautiful or precious material, but as something shaped by labour, technology, class, energy and place.

CRACKED is produced by Tobias Ferguson, with support from Artist-Led St Helens. He has created a temporary structure and design lighting around the artworks. This custom space will highlight and navigate the barriers to exhibiting glass work at a grassroots level.

The exhibition is free to visit and takes place from 27-31 August 2026 (10am-4pm). There is a talk and artist tour (also free but spaces are limited) on Friday 28 August (12-3pm), titled ‘From Magic to Industry’, plus a launch event that evening (6-9pm).

Venue: Street and a Half, Haydock St, St Helens WA10 1DD.

Further details available via this link.