In 2024, artist, educator and researcher Molly Jo Burke published her doctoral thesis on contemporary female glass artists.
Her study centers female glass artists from emerging to established in their careers through qualitative interviews with 27 participants, and 7 participant observations, to “reflect on the challenges and successes they have experienced and to provide a survey of the field at a time that women are seeking parity [with their male counterparts.]”
This free educational workbook, published through the Joan Mitchell Foundation, provides a breadth of information and perspectives about legacy planning for artists, along with practical tools that support engagement with this long-term, and sometimes challenging, process. The guide is part of the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative, which for nearly 15 years has supported artists in their efforts to catalogue, manage, and preserve their life’s work. This resource is available as a .PDF, e-book, and audiobook, with a print-on-demand workbook offered at cost ($13) via Lulu Bookstore.
Glass | Cash Survey is a 2018 survey conducted by artist, educator, and GEEX Director Helen Lee, resulting in the first major compensation survey specific to glass.
Stephanie Syjuco, Artist and Educator at UC-Berkeley, made a small advice booklet for her undergraduate art students to prepare them for the world beyond school. The free, downloadable booklet contains 54 pieces of advice from various artists, curators, and creatives who responded to her prompt for advice and words of wisdom.
An overview of visual art copyright, tailored towards glass and neon artists. This presentation and resource list includes information on how to register a copyright, ideas for how to protect your work online, and what to do if your work has been infringed upon. All information was gathered from and confirmed by a copyright attorney.
An easy-to-use spreadsheet for artists and designers producing sellable objects, created by artist and maker Heather Kraft. This worksheet provides a breakdown of cost of labor, fees, materials, markup, retail, wholesale, and asking price.
“This worksheet is a truth-teller, so it can be difficult to face. Work is expensive to make. Many artists and designers undervalue their work, according to what the market will pay for. Based on your results, you might decide the work isn’t worth the limited revenue stream. Be honest with yourself — and be kind to yourself.”
To use, visit the resource link below and make a copy or download the Google Sheets document.
Newly published in 2022, The Art of Plasma by Wayne Strattman is the first book dedicated to the medium of plasma sculpture. An invaluable resource to plasma artists of all skill levels, and an illuminating read for anyone interested in the intersection of art and science and the past, present and future development of plasma art.
“Glass, gas and electricity combine to create unique possibilities for artists. Historical techniques are now made modern in this hands-on text, revealing ways to fuse art with science to create revolutionary forms of light art. The history, theory and practice of the plasma artist are all covered to give the practitioner both context and practical information to work within this dynamic medium.”
Wayne Strattman, plasma artist, engineer, designer and author, operates Strattman Design, the leading maker of plasma displays for museums, trade shows and movie companies worldwide. Strattman holds a PhD in the Neon Arts for his research, writings and long advocacy for plasma and neon as sculptural media. Strattman previously edited the best-selling 4th edition of Neon Techniques: Handbook of Neon Sign and Cold Cathode Lighting.
A group of color and material design students from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, has taken two invasive species of mussels and transformed them into a useful resource. The design team – Emily Marquette, Mahsa Banadaki and Wei Huang – proposes using zebra and quagga mussels, which are invasive to the USA’s Great Lakes ecosystem, as a source of calcium carbonate and colorant in the creation of region specific soda lime glass. The project seeks to transform these species from an ecological threat to an over-abundant regional resource that can be harvested and used for artisanal and industrial glass and ceramic applications.
“yuka + anjali is a curatorial team interested in the latent connections between glass and alternate / new media. Since 2008, we have been working towards exhibition and publication of guerilla interventions in glass practice, and the consequent re-definitions.”
The following article from how is this glass?establishes the notion of a post-glass artist, how they make sense of their practice, and relate to the world.
On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted a virtual conversation with Karen Donnellan and Suzanne Peck, featured artists in “New Glass Now,” on view at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery from October 22, 2021, to March 6, 2022. This program looked at how the artists use humor and a slightly subversive approach to rewrite the language of glass art. Their poster series “Exhale with Vigor” rejects the outdated slang used in hot glass studios and replaces chauvinistic terms with technical, fun, and feminist phrases. By examining how language, gender, and sexuality play a role in the contemporary glass field, Donnellan and Peck are working to create a more inclusive and representative hot shop.
Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft at SAAM, joined the artists for this engaging conversation on the language of contemporary glass making.
“These are a collection of zines based on the demonstrations and visiting artists presentations during Art 3003 AU2021 at The Ohio State University, taught by Brianna Gluszak. Each student was assigned a demo or presentation to take notes during, then re-form their notes into a zine to be shared with the class. This assignment not only produced an interesting collection of written (drawn) glass resources, it also neutralized the need within the classroom for a note taker.”
First Day in Hot Shop – Celeste Carpenter Bit Structure Demo – Victoria Taylor Press Molds with Richard Harned – Helene Roussi Stained Glass with Richard Harned- Sydney Mitchell Collaborative demo between Andrew Newbold and Brianna Gluszak – Emma Morgan Intro to Cold Shop – Henry Mayeux Collaborative demo between Jon Capps and Molly Burke – Rebecca Irmen Intro to Imagery on Glass – Mia Kordowski Imagery on Glass (powder printing) – Madison Gladman Visiting Artist Kim Harty – Gianni Giarrano Visiting Artist Ben Wright – Kaitlyn Smith
