Shane Fero headlines 2009 International Flameworking Conference

January 26, 2009

Renowned glass artist Shane Fero, with creations in museums around the world, will share his innovative and creative vision of glass at the annual International Flameworking Conference, March 20-22.

The conference also will showcase the work of Marcel Braun, Scott Michael Deppe and J.D.C. Roman who will demonstrate on Saturday and Nathan Purcell, Caitlin Hyde and Marshall Hyde on Sunday.  In addition, editor-in-chief of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly, Andrew Page will present "The Flame's Edge" in Davidow Theatre on Saturday.

Featured at this year's conference is a visit to the new Samuel H. Jones Glass Education Center in Alloway. On Sunday, Glass Education Center Coordinator Jennifer Pagliarini, along with SCC's Instructional Chair for Scientific Glass Technology Dennis Briening and SCC's Instructional Chair in Glass Art Kristen Neville Taylor will demonstrate their talents at the center. Briening will offer a quartz demonstration on the lathe, while Pagliarini and Neville Taylor will offer a collaborative demonstration with glassblowing and casting, respectively.

As featured artist, Fero will give a slide presentation that is free and open to the public Friday evening beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Sol and Jean Davidow Performing Arts Theatre.  A reception in Fero's honor will follow in the Davidow Hall lobby.

Fero, who has been a flameworker for 39 years, maintains a studio next to Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. He has taught at many prestigious institutions including Penland, Urban Glass, the Pratt Fine Arts Center, The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass, the University of Michigan and Pittsburgh Glass Center. He also has taught abroad at Espace Verre, Montreal, Quebec and Bild-Werk, Frauenau, Germany.  His work, which has been viewed in more than 20 solo exhibitions and more than 400 group exhibitions, can be found in more than 20 museums worldwide including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, GlasMuseum in Denmark and the Nijiima Contemporary Glass Museum in Japan.

On Saturday evening, Milon Townsend, a glass artist with a vast body of work, will be honored along with the Flameworking Community Exhibit winners at a dinner at the Riverview Inn in Pennsville, beginning at 6 p.m.

Kicking off the weekend, the preconference program - "Expanding Your Skillset Beyond Flameworking" - will offer a series of breakout sessions. Instructors will be Andrew Brown, co-founder of KBGlassworks; Robert Mickelsen, who has work displayed in the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution; and Robert Stephan, who runs his studio, His Glass Works, in Asheville, N.C. The preconference program has a separate admission and requires registration.

The International Flameworking Conference is made possible by the SCC Foundation with generous support by ABR Imagery, Inc.; Chemglass, Inc.; International Society of Glass Beadmakers; SJ Venture Capital Co.; and Wale Apparatus Co., Inc.

Internationally respected glass artist Paul J. Stankard founded the conference in 2001 and continues to serve as chair.  He leads a planning committee that includes Robert Mickelsen, Jillian Molettiere, Gateson Recko and Milon Townsend. 

This conference also is made possible in part by funds from the Salem County Cultural & Heritage Commission through support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Salem County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

For conference details, visit the International Flameworking Conference page or call 856.351.2753.

By Tracy Wiggins