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The Glass Heart exhibition to showcase 170 years of glass

A new London exhibition, ‘The Glass Heart’, will bring together key regional collections, techniques and artists for the first time at Two Temple Place. Opening in January 2024, the show will present more than 100 glass artworks, spanning 170 years of creativity in the field.

It will highlight works from the UK’s historic industrial glass heartlands of Stourbridge in the Black Country and Sunderland in the North East, alongside the contemporary home of stained glass at the Stained Glass Museum in Ely. It will explore the narratives central to glass art and manufacturing, and celebrate the timeless skills, artistry and innovation required to work with this challenging material.

Tracing a unique chronology of glass production through both industrial and artistic developments, the exhibition will demonstrate how distinctive styles were synonymous with regional stories and social histories. From cameo vessels featuring classical and mythological subject matter, to etched and engraved vases and commemorative goblets, the exhibition will examine the qualities of this reflective, expressive and sculptural form.

Artists showcased will include Anthony Amoako-Attah, Edward Burne-Jones, Monster Chetwynd, Brian Clarke, Chris Day, Ryan Gander, Wilhelmina Geddes, Hardman & Co, Sam Herman, Alison Kinnaird, Peter Layton, Harvey Littleton, Pinkie Maclure, William Morris, Anne Vibeke Mou, John Piper, Ayako Tani, Christopher Whall and Emma Woffenden.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of cultural events for adults and children, including talks, lectures, demonstrations and workshops.

The Glass Heart is a Two Temple Place exhibition, produced in partnership with Stourbridge Glass Museum, the Stained Glass Museum, Ely and National Glass Centre, Sunderland.

‘The Glass Heart’ is on from 27 January-21 April 2024 and admission is free. Opening Times are: Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday 11am-6pm; Wednesday Late 11am-9pm; Sunday 11am-4:30pm. Closed on Mondays and Easter Sunday.

Two Temple Place is a magnificent and eccentric neo-Gothic mansion in central London, owned and run by registered charity the Bulldog Trust.

More information on the exhibition here.

Two Temple Place, London WC2R 3BD, UK. www.twotempleplace.org

Image: Detail of ‘Judge & Jury’ by Chris Day (2023), featuring glass and microbore copper pipe, © the artist. Courtesy of Vessel Gallery. Photo: Agata Pec

Exhibition highlights plight of salmon

A travelling exhibition to raise awareness of the diminishing wild salmon and steelhead fish populations, called ‘The Salmon School’, has returned to The Museum of Glass in Tacoma in the US.

Organized by artist Joseph Rossano and curated by Benedict Heywood, the show is an international, multimedia traveling art performance and exhibition designed to motivate communities to tackle the issues facing salmon populations, and therefore, address climate change. The installation features a life-size school of close to 600 mirrored salmon-like forms, sculpted from molten glass by concerned artists from around the world, and accompanied by first-hand video accounts from renowned scientists, artists, and indigenous peoples. These fragile forms of mirrored glass reflect not only the environment on which the fish depend, but also the viewer: both the cause of the problems confronting salmon today and the solution.

The Salmon School was created and first exhibited in 2019 at Bellevue Arts Museum. At the time, the project was a collaboration between the Museum of Glass, Bellevue Arts Museum, Hilltop Artists, Schack Art Center, Trout Unlimited, Glacier Peak Institute, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The exhibition, informed by tribal elders from the Upper Skagit Tribe, quantified the diminished state of wild salmon and steelhead populations on the Skagit River.

In November 2021, the project was a keynote presentation at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UN COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. In partnership with the Missing Salmon Alliance, other wild Atlantic salmon NGOs, and the River Clyde Foundation, eDNA workshops took place on the regenerated River Clyde, where Glasgow is situated.

Rossano commented on the opportunity to exhibit the project in front of world leaders at the conference: “My intention with my work has always been to make meaningful statements that combine material and location, offering a relatable context for the viewer. The idea of exhibiting 0.1% of all the wild Atlantic salmon left in the North Atlantic over the heads of 100% of the individuals who could make a difference for wild salmon and humans was a massive undertaking. Now that it has happened, another level of importance has been added to the project — along with the potential to make real change in the world.”

Subsequently, The Salmon School began to travel. In the summer of 2022, it was exhibited at Balmoral Castle, the private Scottish residence of the British Royal Family. It was the first work of contemporary sculpture to be exhibited at that historic site. With the support of the Balmoral Estate and the River Dee Trust, eDNA collection took place on the River Dee. In winter 2023, with the support of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, the exhibition was displayed at The Macallan Distillery in Speyside, Scotland.

Exhibition curator Benedict Heywood stated, “The Salmon School is a worldwide art and science collaboration aiming to highlight the imminent threat to wild salmon across the Northern hemisphere. As was demonstrated by its inclusion in the United Nations COP26 conference in 2021, the threat of extinction for wild salmon is indicative of the wider impact of the climate crisis. Wild salmon need what we need: cold, clean water. It has been a privilege to so closely work with Joseph Rossano, Museum of Glass, and so many partners and concerned individuals in Europe and North America to realize this artwork and science program. A charismatic sculptural installation of living mirrors that asks the viewer to look and reflect on their own actions in the real world, The Salmon School is an exemplar of the concept that art can change lives.”

The Salmon School continues to offer perspective on the sustainability issues facing wild salmon today, as it returns to the Museum of Glass. Visitors will find an interactive educational experience, and one that is unique to the Museum, as the installation is composed to respond to each distinctive space it occupies.

The Museum of Glass Education Department has partnered with Foss Waterway Seaport and Tacoma Public Schools to offer an education programme to primary school children, sending salmon tanks to schools and allowing students to raise and then release salmon in Swan Creek while learning about the importance of salmon within the ecosystem.

The Salmon School will be on view at Museum of Glass until Autumn 2024.

Learn more about The Salmon School here: museumofglass.org/salmonschool

The Museum of Glass is at 1801 Dock Street, Tacoma, WA 98402, US.

Image: Detail of ‘The Salmon School’ by Joseph Gregory Rossano. Blown and mirrored glass. Photo: C B Bell, courtesy of the artist and Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA.

Glass artists win World Craft Masters awards

Glass artists from the Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand region have been acknowledged in the recent World Crafts Council Asia Pacific Region Craft Masters Awards 2023 (WCC APR Craft Masters Awards), hosted in Dongyang, China.

The Australian recipients who work in glass are Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello OAM and Kirstie Rea.

An international jury of 11 members evaluated each application based on five endorsement criteria: extraordinary contribution to field, sustainable practice, international recognition, continuous learning and international collaboration.

Winners included nine craftspeople from Central Asia, nine from the South Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific islands), seven from South Asia, eight from West Asia (including Dadash Mehravary Solut from Iran, who is a glass painter), seven from Southeast Asia and 20 from East Asia.

Jenni Kemarre Martiniello OAM is a contemporary urban based Aboriginal (Arrernte) glass artist, who creates traditionally inspired works that pay tribute to traditional weavers and provide recognition for ancient cultural practices through the contemporary medium of glass.

Jenni is a major figure in Indigenous art in Australia and continues to work with and inspire many fellow and emerging artists. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the creative and visual arts in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

‘Bush Flower Bicornual: Banksia and Bottlebrush with Grasses’ (2021), by Jenni Kemarre Martiniello OAM, features hot blown glass with murrine. Photo: Sabbia Gallery.

Kirstie Rea has been practising for over 30 years and her work is held in some of the world’s most important public and private contemporary art collections. She says, “At the core of my practice lies the desire to seek an understanding of our often tenuous connections to place. Walking in places beyond urban environments, seeking solitude and distance, photography and writing have become tools to inform my making.”

Kirstie has taught internationally at the Australian National University Glass Workshop, in United States at Pilchuck Glass School, the Corning Studio, and Pittsburgh Glass Centre; North Lands Creative Glass in Scotland, and Vetroricerca School in Italy. In 2009, Kirstie was awarded Honorary Life Membership of Ausglass, the national organisation of Australian glass artists.

Works by both Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello OAM and Kirstie Rea are held by Sabbia Gallery.

Sabbia Gallery is at: Ground Floor, 609 Elizabeth Street, Redfern, NSW 2016, Australia.

Main image: Kirstie Rea’s ‘What remains’ (2019), folded glass, plinth. Photo: David Paterson.

New book about the creation of Stourbridge Glass Museum

A book outlining how the Stourbridge Glass Museum turned from a dream into reality has been published by writer and broadcaster Graham Fisher MBE FRGS. Graham is well-known to many in the glass sector, having become a Trustee of the fledgling British Glass Foundation (BGF) in 2011 and later joining the jury panel for the International Festival of Glass, held in Stourbridge in 2015.

Stourbridge Glass Museum: how it came into being provides a comprehensive and absorbing account of how Stourbridge Glass Museum was created on the vandalised and burnt-out site of the former Stuart Glassworks in Wordsley, in the heart of the historic Stourbridge Glass Quarter in the West Midlands.

The book covers the 13 years from the BGF’s formation to manage the project through to the official opening of a brand-new, purpose-built, canal-side facility in 2023. The site is designed to conserve and promote both the heritage and the future of local glassmaking for generations to come.

The publication includes a Foreword by Lynn Boleyn MBE, secretary and business manager at the BGF.

Graham Knowles, chairman of the BGF, commented, “Graham has captured the essence of creating what we consider is a ‘People’s Museum’ from the relics of a former glassmaking site that, more than 20 years after its closure, is still regarded locally with great affection. His latest book is a fascinating narrative in its own right, but his recording of how we arrived here will doubtless prove of immense value to researchers and historians yet to be born.”

The BGF was formed in response to uncertainty over the future of the internationally renowned Stourbridge Glass collection, following the loss of its former home at Broadfield House in Kingswinford. In addition to successfully creating the new facility to display the collection, BGF has since become an umbrella organisation representing the wider interests of glassmaking in general, and around Stourbridge in particular.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the BGF. It is available at RRP £10.00 from Amazon, Stourbridge Glass Museum or direct from the author (+£2.50 p&p). For further information, contact Graham via email: grahamfisher@me.com

Stourbridge Glass Museum; how it came into being is published by Sparrow Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7399212-2-4, 56pp, softback, illustrated in full colour.

Image: Graham Fisher with his book.

New prizes announced for British Glass Biennale 2024

The organisers of the British Glass Biennale have announced several new prizes for the 2024 event. This brings the total number of prizes to 14 at the next Biennale. The new prizes are as follows:

  • The Glass Society Award: ‘Connection’
    Winner £2,500
    Runner Up £1,000
    You are free to interpret this theme in any way you want.
  • The Bullseye Living Edge Award: This award is for the best piece (or set) made exclusively of Bullseye glass. The winner will be selected by Bullseye Glass Ltd and receive £5,000 of Bullseye products (glass only) redeemable through Warm Glass UK.
  • The Glass Lab Award 2024: The Glass Lab is in its fifth year of running artist residences and scholarships at The Glass Foundry in Stroud, UK. Formed to promote collaboration, diversity and innovation in the field of glass, the Glass Lab exhibited the work of eight artists in residence working in glass in the 2022 Biennale. This award will go to a student showing technical skill and knowledge in the material. The winner will receive: five days of studio time at The Glass Foundry; one-to-one support from expert staff; £1,500 towards travel, accommodation and materials.
  • The Glass Painters and Glaziers Award: This £1,000 award is for a piece of glass art that features the use of traditional or modern techniques that could include painting, staining, enamelling, leading, copper foiling, laminating or fusing in a broadly two-dimensional format. It is open to all artists, including students.

Read more about the Biennale entry requirements and other prizes here.

More information and submit entries via this link: https://biennale.submittable.com/submit

Take part in CGS members’ postcard exhibition at IFOG 2024

As many of you know, the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) has been involved with the International Festival of Glass (IFOG) since its inception. As 2024 marks the last festival to be held at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge, before the Glass Art Society takes over for the 2026 event, the theme of the regular CGS open exhibition will be ‘Thanks for the Memory’.

The exhibition will be on show at the IFOG from 23 August to 28 September 2024 and is sponsored by Mark Holford and Alan J Poole.

“As our time at the Ruskin Centre comes to an end and we look forward to the next era of the Festival, let’s celebrate the amazing journey we have all had,” says CGS chair, Susan Purser Hope. “Memories are magical moments that we treasure, so join us in our last Postcard Show at this venue and create a small treasure full of memories.”

CGS members are invited to be part of a fantastic and fun fundraising show. This exhibition always gains a great deal of coverage and many pieces are sold.

‘Thanks for the Memory’ is an unselected show open to all CGS members worldwide. However, space is limited, so acceptance is on a first come, first served basis, until the maximum number that can be displayed is reached.

To confirm your place, you need to fill in a registration form by 31 March 2024. The actual work must be delivered at the beginning of August 2024. Register via this link.

The brief:

Make a piece of glass no more than 15 x 11 cm in any direction and less that 2 cm deep.

Pieces will be shown in display cases in the Ruskin Centre, Stourbridge, resting on small shelves. Please note, lighting is restricted.

To make it fun and challenging, all pieces of work will be sold for £50, £75 or £100, with the artists retaining 50% of the sale price.

CGS members should email images of work to: admin@cgs.org.uk as soon as they are available, as these will be used to promote the event.

In addition, there will be prizes:

The People’s Prize – £300, sponsored by Mark Holford.

Best in Show – £300, sponsored by Alan J Poole.

2 x Runner’s Up – £100 each, sponsored by Mark Holford.

If you are not yet a member of CGS and would like to take part in this exhibition, why not join now?

Glass artist wins Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award

London researcher and glass artist Lulu Harrison has won the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) 2023 Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award.

Lulu, a 2023 QEST Scholar, has been recognised for her sustainable processes in incorporating waste from local fishing industries to create glass pieces.

The award, which was introduced in 2023, recognises makers who have made a change to their materials or processes or innovated in another way to measurably reduce their impact on the environment within the last 12 months.

She was officially recognised at a Winners’ Reception at the Vicars’ Hall, Windsor Castle, in November 2023, where she was awarded the £2,000 prize.

Lulu was one of 66 applicants who applied for the award and the judges were delighted at the number of applications received, as well as the quality and variety, which collectively highlighted the role that craft can play in building a more sustainable future for all.

Lulu impressed the judges with her approach to glassmaking, which utilises both historic techniques and scientific development, and replaces highly processed/transported materials with local, abundant, invasive or waste materials.

It was during her MA in Materials Futures at Central Saint Martin’s that Lulu first learned that calcium carbonate (shell) is one of the main components used in soda-lime glass making. Since then, she has used this knowledge to create collections using shellfish waste from the Cornish fishing industry and the River Thames.

In the last 12 months, Lulu has been training with historical glass expert Dr Chloe Duckworth, testing glass recipes made from silica, alkali and calcium sources with a maximum of three ingredients in each batch.

All the materials were sourced locally to Newcastle and were either in abundance, invasive or collected as waste from a local industry, such as waste wood ash and fish bones from a local restaurant. They have achieved lower (and therefore less energy intensive) melting temperatures than a typical raw glass batch. In addition Lulu has also furthered her knowledge about how natural impurities from raw materials can be used to colour glass as a non-hazardous alternative to metal oxides.

Lulu said she was “over the moon” to be named the winner. “It’s an incredible honour to be the first recipient of this award, and it means so much to me to be recognised for my craft, which is quite niche,” she commented. “My true passion is working with regional materials and working on a more local level inspired by ancient processes, showing the world how glass can be made in a different way.

“As a keen cold-water swimmer, I’ve always loved the sea and I’m interested in working with different coastal communities and coastal plants/shell types to create new glass recipes.”

Lulu said she aims to put the prize money towards setting up her own studio and creating new work.

Judges for the Sustainability Award included renowned environmental craft advocate Katie Treggiden, founder of Making Design Circular. She stated, “Lulu’s work stood out for her exciting material innovation within a heritage craft practice, because she is using craft to actively do good and make a positive impact (not just reduce her impact), and because the outcome was beautiful and interesting enough to stand on its own two feet.”

Previously, Lulu was also the first awardee of the Cockpit Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Bursary, giving her a subsidised studio at Cockpit in London.

Image: Lulu Harrison’s glass experiments impressed the judges. Photo courtesy of QEST.

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.

Glass artist opportunities at Pilchuck in 2024

Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State, US, is offering a variety of residency opportunities for glass artists in 2024. All applications must be submitted by 8 December 2023, apart from the Emerging Artist in Residence programme, which has a deadline of 12 January 2024.

The Better Together Annual Residency takes place from 8-18 May 2024 and is a collaboration with Better Together and Hilltop Artists to provide Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) artists with use of the facilities to create new work and build community collaboration. Find out more and apply via this link.

The John H Hauberg Fellowship Residency, named after Pilchuck’s co-founder, offers an opportunity for collaboration among a group of a minimum of three – and up to six – established professional artists. The residency runs from 8-17 May 2024. Hauberg Fellows work both individually and as a group to create art that responds to Pilchuck’s natural environment and/or utilises the school’s non-hot glassmaking facilities. Visual artists in all media, as well as writers, poets, art critics and curators are encouraged to submit proposals with a collaborative concept or theme. The intent is to focus on projects and ideas that will inspire creative endeavours long after the fellowship ends. Artists must apply as a group. Find out more and apply via this link.

The Innovation in Image Residency (8-17 May 2024) presents an opportunity for knowledgeable, inventive image makers to come and explore the potential of Pilchuck’s digital imaging lab and print studio and to experiment with new ways to combine imagery and glass. Find out more and apply via this link.

The Emerging Artist in Residence programme takes place from 3 October until 13 November 2024. The 2024 cohort will be artists from around the world, selected by a jury. Applicants must submit a specific project proposal. Applications must be made by 12 January 2024. More details and application via this link.

Pilchuck Glass School is at 1201-316th St NW, Stanwood, WA 98292, US. https://www.pilchuck.org

Present Makers glass exhibition in Devon

Make a note to visit the Thelma Hulbert Gallery (THG) this November and December 2023 to see an exhibition of quality contemporary craft and buy your Christmas gifts. ‘Present Makers’ features hand-crafted gift ideas showcasing the talent and innovation of contemporary craftspeople and designer-makers from the South West region of the UK.

This year’s event shines a spotlight on glass through the gallery’s collaboration with the Contemporary Glass Society.

Selected glass artists taking part include: Roberta Ayles, Madeline Bunyan, Catherine Dunstan, Rachael Durkan, Oriel Hicks, Susan Kinley, Ian Palfrey, Steve Robinson, Susan Sinclair, Wendy Wood, Robyn Coetzee, Claire Hall, Maggie Hamlyn Williams, Jane Hester, Susan Purser Hope and Amy Whittingham.

Other crafts represented include jewellery, ceramics, textiles, prints and wood, as well as a range of unique Christmas cards and decorations.

The exhibition and sale of work are on from 11 November until 23 December 2023. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday 10am-5pm and admission is free.

THG is an award-winning public art gallery hosting an acclaimed programme of contemporary art and craft exhibitions, alongside a permanent collection of artist Thelma Hulbert’s work.

Thelma Hulbert Gallery is at Elmfield House, Dowell Street, Honiton, Devon EX14 1LX, UK. Website: https://www.thelmahulbert.com