Noticeboards Category: Opportunities/Call for Artists

International Festival of Glass 2026
The CGS Exhibition

‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’

Call for Entries is open!

The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is delighted to announce that we will be holding an exhibition at The International Festival of Glass this year at The World of Glass, St Helens.

The theme is “A Cabinet of Curiosities”, and this is an open call to all CGS members!

Start thinking of what you could make to be a part of our Cabinet of Curiosities!

We invite you to embrace curiosity, experimentation, process-led exploration, and storytelling—whether entirely factual or imaginatively fictional—within your glass pieces. The work will be available for sale, and for the first time in our IFOG exhibitions, we will be able to display 3D objects as well as 2D works!

This exhibition is a sequel to our much-loved Postcard Exhibitions, previously held in Stourbridge. With the new location and format, we are thrilled to open this popular opportunity to everyone at any stage of their making and using any glass technique.

Please note: Unlike previous years, this will be a selected show due to limitations on the number of works we can display. But be assured that we are keen to show work from makers at all stages of their glassmaking career and in a wide range of techniques.

Criteria for Selection
• You must be a member of the Contemporary Glass Society.
• Your work should fit the theme of the exhibition- Be curious, experimental, and intriguing.
• The work must be completed, with high-quality final photos for promotion and the accompanying online exhibition.
• A wide range of approaches and techniques is encouraged and will form part of the selection criteria.
• Pieces should retail within one of the following price categories- £85, £150, £200, £300, £400, or £500.
• The work must be for sale. This is a fundraising event:
o 50% of the sale price goes to the artist (or you may kindly donate this to CGS)
o 20% + VAT goes to The World of Glass
o The remaining amount is a donation towards CGS events, including our 30th Anniversary celebrations next year.
• Size limits:
o Depth no greater than 10cm
o Height and width no larger than 20cm x 10cm (these can be used in either orientation)
• Limited editions are welcome—only one piece is needed for the show, with the option for additional commissions once purchased.
• The work must be delivered between specific dates in July/August to Sarah Brown at her studio. Exact details will be confirmed once your spot is secured.

• Application fee: £15

Exhibition and Sale
• We will hold a launch event at The Festival for the sale of the pieces (time TBC), a fun way to meet other artists and select your favourites.
• Pieces will be affordable, and unsold works will be made available online after the show, giving those who cannot attend a chance to purchase them.
• There will be a Best in Show prize and a People’s Prize, announced at the end of the exhibition.
Images and Documentation
We would love to receive:
• Videos/photos of you making the work.
• High-quality images on a clear background of the final pieces
Have fun with your pieces! Think outside the box (within the size limits) and make something exciting to display alongside a wide range of artists.

Key Dates
• Open Call Launched: April 2026
• Applications Close: 21st June
• Delivery of Work: July/ August 2026 (date to be confirmed)
• Launch Event: During IFOG
• Exhibition Dates: 27th August – 31st October
• Launch Event: During IFOG – time TBC
• Sold/ Unsold Artwork sent: Sold artwork will go to the purchaser in November. Unsold Artwork will need collection arranged at a date TBC.

APPLICATION FORM

MORE INFO ABOUT IFOG 2026

The Glass Hub Internship is an educational work placement opportunity suitable for individuals looking to gain experience in glassmaking and glass education, alongside developing their own work in a well-equipped glass studio. The successful applicants will experience a variety of roles that will include ‘glass technician’ and ‘glass teaching assistant’. They will be trained in the operation and maintenance of glassmaking equipment as well as undertake real-world experience in the operation of a busy glass school. They should have a grounding in glass, interested in developing new glass techniques and skills, and they need to be motivated and interested in making their own work to supplement their income.

Please help me research by adding your glass voice and perspective to the project! Who are the contemporary women leaders in glass you’d like to celebrate? Who do you believe is shaping the 21st-century glass landscape: the women artists, curators, educators, directors, founders, collectors? I’ve recently launched a new project to explore this topic, and I really want your voice and glass perspective! I am hoping you might take a few minutes to complete a survey to capture your ideas (link to survey at the website address). The survey is anonymous and can be completed in about 10 minutes.

I’m a creative practitioner and a researcher…this is a bit of a passion project for me and will be featured as part of a panel discussion at the upcoming 2026 GAS Conference. Given our turbulent times and harsh daily news, I’ve found that this project is one way I can lean into the positive by connecting with our glass community and uplifting the women who inspire us. Thank you for any minutes you spend on the survey and for sharing it if you are willing!

A unique opportunity to share the use of my studio. Located in Stroud, Glos, the long-established professional kilncasting studio has a range of kilns and coldwork equipment. I am offering the chance to have your own personal workspace in a quiet part of my lovely studio along with shared use of the extensive facilities for casting and coldworking glass. This is not for short-time hire of facilities or training; it’s a space where you can set up your artistic practise with access to great equipment.
For details, please contact me with a brief bio about yourself and work and why this might interest you.

We are delighted to be launching 5 Online Exhibitions in 2026. We know members love to be able to plan for the different themes ahead of time, so below are the dates for your diaries and the themes.

There will be 4 exhibitions that are for members to submit and one Open Exhibition for both members and non members. We are excited to see the works you submit for the shows.

These are open to everyone, those beginning their exploration of glass or established artists, from anywhere in the world, but please keep the theme in mind, as we will be ensuring all works fit the themes. We would love you to challenge the concepts, so within the blurb, please write about the inspirations, and connection to the themes.

Please find the PDF for you to download and keep in the studio as a reference, or below is all of the details.

Form & Function
Deadline – 12th January
Live – 19th January
Makers online Talk – TBC
End – 16th March

Form & Function invites artists to explore how appearance and purpose inform one another. The exhibition aims to discuss where beauty meets utility: how vessels, objects, or functional forms can also carry emotion, narrative, or atmosphere.
Artists are encouraged to consider how craftsmanship, material understanding, and intention converge in their work, and to submit pieces that either embrace functionality, question it, or expand its possibilities.

Installations and Interventions
Call out – 2nd February
Deadline – 23rd February
Live – 16th March
Makers online Talk – TBC
End – 25th May

We invite you to submit work for an exhibition exploring how creative practice can transform, interrupt, or reimagine space. Installations and Interventions focus on works that shift the viewer’s experience—whether through immersive environments, spatial constructions, performative elements, or subtle acts that alter how a place is understood. We welcome large-scale works, site-responsive pieces and smaller objects that create dialogue through placement or disruption.

Open Exhibition – All Things Great and Small
Open to Non- Members

Call out – 13th April
Deadline – 27th April
Live – 25th May
Makers online Talk – TBC
End – 3rd August

We invite submissions for All Things Great and Small, an online glass exhibition exploring scale and detail in everyday life. We welcome a wide range of glassmaking techniques—from traditional blowing, casting, and fusing to experimental approaches—and are particularly interested in works that highlight the extraordinary in the familiar, whether through monumental forms or intricate, close-up details.

Sign of the Times
Call out – 22nd June
Deadline – 13th July
Live – 3rd August
Makers online Talk- TBC
End – 12th October

Sign of the Times will examine the presence of text, signage, and visual language in contemporary glass art. The exhibition aims to brings together works that reference modern society—its advertising, public spaces, digital culture, and shared symbols—while also acknowledging glass’s long history as a carrier of messages. Using a wide range of glass techniques and approaches, we hope to show works using text, signs and objects that invite reflection on communication, identity, and the social, cultural, and political markers of our time.

Heritage Techniques and Objects
Call out – 1st September
Deadline – 28th September
Live – 12th October
Makers online Talk – TBC
End – 18th January 2027

Heritage Techniques and Objects. This exhibition aims to bring together contemporary glass artworks that reflect on the material’s rich history while reimagining it through a present-day lens. The exhibition will feature works that adopt, adapt, and exploit traditional glassmaking techniques, alongside pieces that reference or reinterpret antique and historic glass objects. By engaging with heritage processes and forms, the artworks will explore ideas of continuity, memory, and transformation, revealing how the past remains an active and evolving influence within contemporary glass practice.

To join an exhibition please see the PDF for all of the details.

Do you need help with the CGS Website?

Need some advice on how to log in, upload your images, renew your membership or complete your details?

MEMBERS’ FIRST LOGIN ATTEMPT
• In order to login to your account you will need to reset your password.
• Click on this link https://cgs.org.uk/my–account/lost–password/
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COMPLETE YOUR MEMBERS’ PROFILE
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o Details: general information about you, please keep this up to date as it is used to mail out
the magazine Glass Network.
o Profile image: main image display on find a glass artist (this is required)
o Submit to an exhibition: submit to open exhibitions, this is where you take part in online
exhibitions.
o Images: upload your art work images, up to nine.
o Activities: additional information, tell us what technique you use, what area you work in, etc.
o Edit profile: here you can write about yourself and your work , this is required for you to
appear in FIND A GLASS ARTIST.
o Add notices: here you can add notices in the CGS noticeboard, sell equipment advertise
exhibitions etc. https://cgs.org.uk/noticeboard/
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NEW – MEMBERS AREA – WEB FEATURE –When you are logged into the website, if you go to
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