Hot Glass Show Glassblowers
Steve Gibbs
Hot Glass Programs Manager
Steve Gibbs always dreamed of becoming a glassblower. At 14, he apprenticed at his uncle's stained glass company, and went on to manage the business while in college. Gibbs worked at Steuben Glass for 17 years, supervising every aspect of the glassmaking process. He joined The Corning Museum of Glass in 1998, where he developed the Museum's Hot Glass Show: live, narrated glassblowing demonstrations for the public. Since, he has spun off a mobile version of the show and created a hot shop for Celebrity Cruises. Trained in fine arts and biology, Gibbs is also an independent glass artist and painter whose work is highly influenced by the natural world.
John Cowden
Hot Glass Show Supervisor/Narrator
John Cowden has been a narrator at The Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Show since 1999, coming to the Museum with more than 10 years of experience in the field of glassworking. As the narrator, Cowden serves as the liaison between the glassblower and the audience, explaining the activities on stage with precision and clarity. He also travels extensively with the Hot Glass Roadshow, narrating demonstrations for audiences around the world while promoting the Museum's involvement in the international art community. Before joining the Museum, Cowden primarily used cold working techniques, processes such as slumping, making molds, grinding, and polishing, where time is not a pressure.
George Kennard
Gaffer/Narrator
George Kennard has been at the Museum since 2001, after spending eight years working in private studios. He began his tenure at the Museum as an instructor in The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass, teaching beginning and continuing classes in glassblowing. Kennard enjoys the limitless opportunities for creating with molten glass and prefers making large-scale incalmo pieces, by joining two blown glass bubbles to create different bands of color.
Eric Meek
Gaffer/Narrator
Eric Meek has been a full-time gaffer at the Museum since 2005. After graduating from Bowling Green State University, Meek studied glassblowing at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass and the production studio at the Henry Ford Museum. He received his M.F.A. from Kent State University and teaches workshops internationally. His artwork is exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. When working with glass, Meek likes to draw upon tradition and fine craftsmanship to realize modern, elegant forms.
Lewis Olson
Gaffer/Narrator
Lewis Olson began working with glass in his native New Zealand in the 1970s. In the 1980s his passion for glass took him to Australia, Africa, Canada, England, Scandinavia and Italy, where he worked in glass studios and factories. A storyteller by nature, Olson is attracted to the endless possibilities in using glass as a medium for communication. His pieces embody his fascination with the sensual, sculptural, optical, and functional properties of glass; whether they are representational of the human figure or exotic animals, or explorations of surface pattern or architectural form. His work can be seen throughout the world in private and public collections.
Don Pierce
Gaffer/Narrator
Don Pierce has been blowing glass for more than 20 years. After completing the six-year Steuben apprenticeship program in only four years, he began his tenure with Steuben and came to the Museum in 2000. Invigorated by the creative expressions blowing glass provides, Pierce enjoys envisioning a piece in his mind and then making it a reality with his hands.
Chris Rochelle
Gaffer/Narrator
Chris Rochelle is “addicted to manipulating glass is its fluid form.” While he expresses his creativity through many types of media, he enjoys the unique relationship he has with glass. It demands constant attention, physically and mentally, always leaving him wanting more. Chris began working glass in college, and further developed his skills through internships and assisting part time at the Museum’s Hot Glass Show, and then as an assistant at glass studios in Corning, NY, and in Western Massachusetts. He also works for Steuben Glass as a glassblower.
Annette Sheppard
Gaffer/Narrator
Annette Sheppard first studied glassmaking at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass while earning her B.S. in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University. She got hooked. Upon graduation, Annette studied with world-renowned glass artists teaching at The Studio, including Pino Signoretto and Shin-ichi and Kimiake Higuchi. She has worked and traveled with the Hot Glass Roadshow of The Corning Museum of Glass for many years. Sheppard spends the majority of her time focused on sculpting glass, but also enjoys making functional objects.
Carl Siglin
Gaffer/Narrator
Carl Siglin began blowing glass in 2003 when he was hired as a technician at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass. Prior to his work in glass, Carl, who attended Syracuse University's School of Architecture, ran his own independent contracting company for 15 years. In 2008, Siglin joined the Hot Glass Show team on Celebrity Cruises. He makes and sells his own line of production glass, and has taught beginning glassblowing classes for many years.
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