Hot off the screen and into the Glass Studio, we welcome Alexander Rosenberg as the new WheatonArts Glass Studio Director! Rosenberg, a Netflix Blown Away star and glass art instructor at Salem Community College, is an accomplished artist with broad experience and respect in the field of glass. As a Philadelphia-based artist, educator, and writer, he earned a Master of Science in Visual Studies from MIT and a BFA in Glass from Rhode Island School of Design. Rosenberg was a Creative Glass Fellow at WheatonArts in 2018 and a guest artist lecturer for Wheaton Conversations in January 2021. In his new role, he will lead the Studio’s artist residency programs, educational programs, special projects, and the overall creative direction of the Glass Studio. 

Alexander Rosenberg holds a diverse resume revealing talents showcased on local, national, and international levels. He completed a collection of residencies ranging from Urban Glass in New York to Pilchuck Glass School in Washington to GlazenHuis in Belgium and beyond. As an exhibiting artist, Rosenberg has showcased his creative art glass in various venues across the nation and Europe, including Le Stanze Del Vetro in Venice, Italy (2020), Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA (2019), Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Ebeltoft, Denmark (2017), and GlazenHuis in Lommel, Belgium (2015). He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the de Flores Humor Fund Grant (MIT, 2008), the 2012 International Glass Prize, The Esther & Harvey Graitzer Memorial Prize (2015), University of the Arts President’s Fund For Excellence (2017), and the 2020 Proctor Fellowship. 

Rosenberg’s experience in leadership and community roles is just as impressive. Almost yearly since 2008, Rosenberg has been a visiting demonstrating artist and lecturer at major institutions and conferences nationwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the 2015 Glass Art Society Conference. From 2010 to 2017, he headed the glass program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He is a founding member of Hyperopia Projects (2010 to 2018), a group supporting the exploration, innovation, and critical rigor of expanding the definition of glass in art and culture. Additionally, he was an artist member for three years at Vox Populi Gallery, an experimental contemporary art space and collective supporting under-represented artists in various ways.

With the WheatonArts’ winter season approaching (closed January through March), Rosenberg will be preparing the Glass Studio for an exciting 2022 program season. As WheatonArts’ Executive Director, Susan Gogan states, “We are thrilled to welcome Alex back to WheatonArts as we focus on rebuilding capacity and programming that has been interrupted by the pandemic for too long. As the Glass Studio Director, a position that remained vacant throughout the pandemic, Alex will have the opportunity to bring a new vision to our work and to apply his multiple skills toward the reshaping of programming that advances our mission to engage artists and audiences in an exploration of creativity.” 

See a few examples of Rosenberg’s artistic work below. For additional information and work, visit his website or follow @rosenbergalexander and @wheatonarts on Instagram.

Images: 1. Alexander Rosenberg glassblowing, photo by Carola Rummens. 2. Rosenberg’s headshot photo by David Leyes. 3-7. Examples of artistic works by Alexander Rosenberg, photographed by Jay Muhlin. 8. Prototype5 with Rosenberg.