THE CREATIVE GLASS CENTER OF AMERICA

Established 1983

MISSION

The mission of the Creative Glass Center of America (CGCA) is to offer direct support to emerging and mid-career artists who work with glass. Over the past 30 years, CGCA has awarded over 350 fellowship residencies to emerging and mid-career artists, from the US and 26 foreign countries.

The CGCA advances its mission through the CGCA Fellowship Program, offering fellowships each year to an international community of individual artists. Through other special educational events and public studio access provided on a daily basis, CGCA also promotes the development of art works, made with glass, to an audience of artists, scholars, collectors and the general public. The CGCA Fellowship Program continues to be one of the only means of “unrestricted” support for artists using glass.

HISTORY

In 1982, a group of artists, curators, educators and others collaborated on a mission that would promote the use of glass as a contemporary art medium, and to provide a facility in which an artist could work with glass at a reasonable cost. The CGCA was established in 1983, when WheatonArts (formerly Wheaton Village) offered the use of its fully equipped glass studio, anchored by the support of the Museum of American Glass.

The CGCA continues to award fellowships each year, and artists are encouraged to use this opportunity to develop and refine their work while experimenting with glassmaking processes. The collaboration and exchange of ideas among the Fellows enhances a productive climate, supporting the discovery of new vision and resources for each.

Benefits for artists include: housing, a stipend, most materials, and 24-hour access to hot and cold glass studio facilities. Each artist designs their own working process, and is assisted by their co-fellows and the studio staff. CGCA fellowship artists are chosen through a competitive peer review selection process. The Selection Committee consists of a rotating peer panel of respected professional artists and educators.

Many former fellows have acknowledged that the CGCA has made a significant impact on the development of their careers as educators and/or exhibiting artists. The majority remain active as artists, exhibiting in major galleries and shows. Many have been awarded honors, and others are teaching in colleges and universities worldwide