This week features Michael Schunke, Kristina Logan, Mark Ditzler, Harry Seaman, Jiří Harcuba and April Surgent in the Studio Faculty Presentations series.
Hear from some of the best-known glassmakers in the world, through free, informal public lectures by Studio faculty, every Tuesday night throughout the summer class sessions.
Michael Schunke was drawn to glassmaking as a teenager at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. He has dedicated his life to the pursuit of form and the practice of glassmaking. A former professor at the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Japan, Schunke continues to teach glassmaking around the world. He recently completed residencies at the Toledo Museum of Glass in Toledo, OH, and the Museum of Glass and Contemporary Art in Tacoma, WA. His work is housed in museum collections world-wide.
Kristina Logan is recognized internationally for her precisely patterned and delicate glass beads. She travels throughout the world teaching workshops and lecturing on contemporary glass beads and jewelry. Her work is in the collections of The Smithsonian Museum of American Art; Renwick Gallery; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; The Corning Museum of Glass and the Musée du Verre de Sars-Poteries, Sars-Poteries, France. She served as president of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers from 1996 until 1998.
Mark Ditzler teaches glass fusing at the Pratt Fine Art Center and the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, WA. He received degrees in ceramic art and industrial design from Western Washington University, and he brings more than 20 years of experience to the making of kiln-fired glass. Ditzler designs fused glass lighting, sinks, and tiles.
Harry Seaman, facility supervisor at The Studio, received his B.F.A. from Alfred University. Furnace casting, glassblowing, and cold working are his specialties.
Jiří Harcuba is widely regarded as a glassmaker who deserves to be called a "legend." He was born into a glassmaking family, and his admiration for the famous 19th-century Bohemian engraver Dominik Biemann led him to learn the craft. He received a classical education in glass and sculpture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague, where he was appointed director in 1990. His work is widely collected, and it may be seen in major museums worldwide, including The Corning Museum of Glass.
April Surgent exhibits, teaches, and lectures internationally and in 2008, started and instructed a series of short courses with master Czech engraver and mentor, Jirí Harcuba. In 2009, she was awarded one of the two Neddy Fellowships, through the generosity of the Behnke foundation, along with the New Talent award, through UrbanGlass in New York. In 2010, she had her first solo museum show, at the Bellevue Arts Museum.
