Petition to support Bild-Werk Frauenau’s future

A petition has been launched to support the concept of a Glass Culture Campus in the glassmaking town of Frauenau, situated in the Bavarian Forest in Germany.

Friends of the international glass centre Bild-Werk Frauenau and the foundation managing the former home of artists Erwin and Gretel Eisch, which was left in their will as permanent place for art and culture, are calling on the Bavarian State Government to back the proposal financially and secure the future of glass and art in the area.

For over 60 years Erwin and Gretel Eisch inspired countless people with their ideas and art. Since 1965 Erwin Eisch had gathered the international glass art world around his studio glass furnace within the Eisch glass works, making Frauenau the European capital of the studio glass movement.

At Bild-Werk Frauenau this distinctive combination of glass, art and craft, of poetry and the joy of creation lives on. Since 1988, the International Summer Academy has covered regional skills, western European traditions and transatlantic innovation. In addition, the EU Glass Works project has supported young glass workers with international networks and publicity.

Now, in the summer of 2023, the futures of the Academy and the Eisch villa are uncertain. With the decline of the traditional glassworks and the dramatic loss of glass knowledge and sales markets, the Eastern Bavarian glass region sits at a turning point. They need a reliable guarantee to secure their continued existence for the glass and art community.

The idea of the Glass Culture Campus brings together the various unique potentials of Frauenau: educational work in art and culture; creative industries in glass, as well as the cross-border heritage of glassmakers. On the heritage-protected site of the former Gistl crystal glass factory, the plan is to bring together the resources, networks and experience that have grown over decades in the International Summer Academy for Glass and Art and the projects at Bild-Werk Frauenau, with the artists’ house of Erwin and Gretel Eisch.

Through the open infrastructure of the new campus, it is hoped that these two Frauenau activity centres can develop outstanding future potential and synergies.

The supporters of this idea are asking the glass and wider art community to support and share their petition so they can reach their goal of 1,500 names or more in the coming weeks. Read more and sign the petition via this link.

Find out more about Bild-Werk Frauenau here.