Glass Faculty & Administrators within the Department of Three-Dimensional Arts (3D Arts).
An annual Fellowship in Glass invites an emerging artist to share their process, advance their work, and offer students fresh perspectives.
Field trips, travel courses, and opportunities to study abroad supplement the Glass program curriculum, and expose students to creative glass practices around the world.
A scholarship competition awards selected Glass majors the opportunity for intensive summer studies in specialized areas of glass research.
The Kanik Chung Legacy Fellowship is awarded annually to an emerging artist, regardless of academic experience, who is a first-generation U.S. citizen; contributes to the glass economy as a design entrepreneur; and/or is dedicated to pursuing art driven by cultural heritage, political content, or social justice.
MassArt’s Glass Shops provide students with professional-grade studios for glassblowing, flameworking, cold construction, casting, and enameling. Whether you’re shaping molten glass in the Hot Shop, refining details in the Cold Shop, or developing independent projects in the Majors Studio, our spaces are designed to support creative exploration and technical excellence.
Glass Blowing (3D Fine Arts, Glass) in the Hot Shop with Nikki Tsamis.
The Glass Shed, commonly called the Hot Shop, is a 2500 square foot studio designed for glassblowing, sculpture, casting, and flame working, and features:
Supporting flameworking and sculptural techniques, this studio includes:
For precision work, carving, and cold construction, the Cold Shop offers:
A space for casting, fusing, and enameling, equipped with:
A secure, light-filled studio with individual workspaces for Glass majors to develop personal projects and refine their artistic practice.
Whether you’re mastering traditional techniques or experimenting with new processes, MassArt’s Glass Shops provide the tools and environment to bring your vision to life.
Glass majors at MassArt cultivate the critical knowledge to pursue sustainable and meaningful futures as creative glass practitioners. Our curriculum provides a progressive trajectory that develops technical skills in glassblowing, flameworking, casting, mold-making, carving, and cold construction to inform thematic projects, historical context, personal interests, and professional development.
Specialized glass studio courses examine materiality, process, and emerging technology, and seminars encourage students to examine the values that drive their work, their role as artists in society, and the relevant context for their work.
MassArt’s comprehensive glass studios provide state-of-the-art equipment for glass fabrication, including two furnaces for casting, blowing, and hot-sculpting glass, two workstations, and four annealers. The new flameshop is outfitted with five torches and workstations, and two annealers. Kilns support casting and fusing courses, and two state-of-the art coldshops include a sandblaster, carving equipment, polishing tools, and a Mercker lathe.
In the studios and classrooms, our dedicated and accomplished Glass faculty work directly with students to provide technical instruction, facilitate discussions and lectures, and provide individualized feedback and support. Beyond the curriculum, students are encouraged to participate in a wealth of opportunities to enrich their experience at MassArt and develop their personal practices through travel, scholarships, and networking with professionals in the field.
Notable alumni of MassArt’s Glass program are successful creative entrepreneurs, exhibiting artists, award-winning designers, technical fabricators, and educators.
Students who complete the Glass BFA program are expected to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes.
The Glass program is an energetic and supportive community of makers who share a passion for the material. Students develop versatile skills and explore innovative glass-forming techniques using state-of-the-art facilities and digital labs. The program offers opportunities for professional growth through enriching visiting artist programs and competitive summer workshop scholarships. The accomplished faculty and dynamic community inspire students to expand their artistic potential, cultivating critical knowledge to succeed in today’s world.
Cleod Glassworks is a local small business that uses an ancient art to create beautiful, modern glass products. Professor and Chair of Fine Arts 3D at MassArt, James McLeod, and his wife Libby McLeod have a studio in Essex, a store in Rockport, and a showroom in Charleston, South Carolina. Their vases, stemware, pitchers, and bowls boast an intricate attention to detail – beautiful, vibrant showpieces you’d be reluctant to store behind a cabinet door.
“The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) has named Boston-based artist Anjali Srinivasan (Glass / 3D Fine Arts Faculty member) the recipient of the 35th Rakow Commission. The prestigious award supports the creation of a new work in glass by an artist whose work pushes the boundaries of the material and who is not yet represented in CMoG’s permanent collection.”
