Contemporary Glass Society
Encyclopedia
The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is an association of artist
s, collector
s, students, writer
s, organisations, academics, galleries, manufacturers and enthusiasts of Glass
. Its aim is to support Artists working in the medium of glass and to promote the development of Glass art
, both Nationally and Internationally, while forging links within the glass community.
. Essentially an informal Craft Guild, British Artists in Glass was composed almost entirely of artists working in blown and kiln glass. Since its demise in 1992, the representation of British Glass had been left to individual efforts. There was no overall organisation. Through discussions with other like-minded people, Peter Layton identified the need for a unified, National Society, to represent the interests of enthusiasts of glass more generally, within the national and international community. The Contemporary Glass Society was the result.
The first conference was held at the University of Wolverhampton
with over 100 attendees and a line-up of speakers including, Keith Cummings, Diana Hobson and Alison Kinnard.
An Arts Council England
funded organisation, CGS has a growing membership that now includes not simply Glass artists, but makers, collectors, students, trade and education establishments.
CGS is run by a voluntary committee made up mostly of makers and its administrator, Pam Reekie.
It publishes a quarterly newsletter Glass Network, designed by the artist Roger Kohn
and runs its own website and produces material showcasing the work of glass artists throughout the UK . The society organises a number of public activities including; international conferences and one-day symposium
s as well as practical workshops covering a range of techniques, such as Glass blowing, hot glass, architectural glass, glass engraving
and glass casting
and kiln
work.
Current members of the Contemporary Glass Society include: Katharine Coleman, Emma Woffenden, Anna Dickinson, Catherine Hough, David Reekie
, Colin Reid and Tessa Clegg.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s, collector
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
s, students, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s, organisations, academics, galleries, manufacturers and enthusiasts of Glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
. Its aim is to support Artists working in the medium of glass and to promote the development of Glass art
Glass art
Studio glass or glass sculpture is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. Specific approaches include working glass at room temperature cold working, stained glass, working glass in a torch flame , glass beadmaking, glass casting, glass...
, both Nationally and Internationally, while forging links within the glass community.
Background
Founded in 1997, by Peter Layton of the London Glassblowing Studio, together with Colin Reid and Tessa Clegg, the Contemporary Glass Society rose from the ashes of British Artists in Glass, an informal association of individual Glass Artists founded in 1976 by a group of artists including the glass sculptor David ReekieDavid Reekie
David Reekie is an eminent English Glass Sculptor who uses drawing and glass casting to express his unique vision of the human condition. His art can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, as well as in several other public collections in...
. Essentially an informal Craft Guild, British Artists in Glass was composed almost entirely of artists working in blown and kiln glass. Since its demise in 1992, the representation of British Glass had been left to individual efforts. There was no overall organisation. Through discussions with other like-minded people, Peter Layton identified the need for a unified, National Society, to represent the interests of enthusiasts of glass more generally, within the national and international community. The Contemporary Glass Society was the result.
The first conference was held at the University of Wolverhampton
University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
with over 100 attendees and a line-up of speakers including, Keith Cummings, Diana Hobson and Alison Kinnard.
The Contemporary Glass Society Today
In 2005 CGS became a non-profit making limited company.An Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
funded organisation, CGS has a growing membership that now includes not simply Glass artists, but makers, collectors, students, trade and education establishments.
CGS is run by a voluntary committee made up mostly of makers and its administrator, Pam Reekie.
It publishes a quarterly newsletter Glass Network, designed by the artist Roger Kohn
Roger Kohn
Roger Kohn is a designer and author. He studied with Rowan Gillespie at York School of Art and is the Irish sculptor's biographer.-Education and career:Kohn was educated at Marton Hall Preparatory School and Pocklington School...
and runs its own website and produces material showcasing the work of glass artists throughout the UK . The society organises a number of public activities including; international conferences and one-day symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
s as well as practical workshops covering a range of techniques, such as Glass blowing, hot glass, architectural glass, glass engraving
Glass engraving
Glass engraving is a form of decorative glasswork that involves engraving a glass surface or object. It is distinct from glass art in the narrow sense, which refers to moulding and blowing glass....
and glass casting
Glass casting
Glass casting is the process in which glass objects are cast by directing molten glass into a mould where it solidifies. The technique has been used since the Egyptian period...
and kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
work.
Current members of the Contemporary Glass Society include: Katharine Coleman, Emma Woffenden, Anna Dickinson, Catherine Hough, David Reekie
David Reekie
David Reekie is an eminent English Glass Sculptor who uses drawing and glass casting to express his unique vision of the human condition. His art can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, as well as in several other public collections in...
, Colin Reid and Tessa Clegg.