The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is an association of artists working in the medium of
glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
in the United Kingdom and internationally. Established in 1997, the organisation funded through member subscriptions and charitable contributions. It publishes the ''Glass Network'' digital magazine.
It awards an annual graduate review prize and also publishes the ''New Graduate Review'' magazine.
Background
Peter Layton, founder of the London Glassblowing workshop, started the Contemporary Glass Society and became its first chairman in 1997.
He started the organisation 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 Reekie. Essentially an informal
Craft Guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...
, ''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
The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...
with over 100 attendees and a line-up of speakers including, Keith Cummings, Diana Hobson and Alison Kinnard.
Present work
In 2005 CGS became a non-profit making limited company.
An
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...
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
In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...
s as well as practical workshops covering a range of techniques, such as
Glass blowing
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
, hot glass,
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
glass,
glass engraving
Engraved glass is a type of decorated glass that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an engraving burin. It is a subgroup of ...
and
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 15th century BCE in both Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Modern cast glass is formed by a ...
and
kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
work.
In 2022, society trustee Fiona Fawcett curated an exhibition at the Stourbridge Glass Museum celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Contemporary Glass Society.
Notable members
Current members of the Contemporary Glass Society include: Katharine Coleman, Emma Woffenden, Anna Dickinson, Fiaz Elson, Catherine Hough,
David Reekie, Colin Reid and Tessa Clegg.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Contemporary Glass SocietyEmma WoffendenAnna Dickinson Colin ReidKatherine ColemanThe Creative Glass Guild
Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom