Bellarine College of Glass a step closer

The Festival’s dream of a Bellarine College of Glass has come a step closer with the launch of a glass art Mentorship programme at the 2018 Festival of Glass.

The programme will focus on young aspiring glass artists and each year, the Festival of Glass committee will collaborate with local secondary schools to select three recipients of a Mentorship. Each recipient will receive 5 two-hour sessions of personal tuition by their Mentor over six months. Mentors will be established, professional glass artists, who will receive $500 each for their participation.

Mercedes Drummond is the Festival committee member running the programme. “The Mentorship programme will help the Festival to promote a sense of community and cultural identity on the Bellarine Peninsula.” she said. “It will encourage local aspiring glass artists to embed their work in their community and encourage the community to celebrate its young people’s talents.”

Building careers

Mentors will assist recipients to build careers as glass artists by introducing them to a range of glass working techniques, assisting them to sell their work and to compete for Awards – starting with the Glass Art Awards at the 2018 Festival of Glass. Mentors will help recipients to build a professional resume by participating in the 2018 Festival of Glass and they will encourage recipients to build a network of shared interests and mutual respect with other artists and students in the Mentorship programme.

“The establishment of the glass art Mentorship programme means that young people can receive personal tuition and guidance to explore whether they’d like to become a glass artist”, said Mercedes Drummond. “The programme may seem a long way from a Bellarine College of Glass, but as someone said once, ‘From little things, big things grow!’”