Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Glass art mentorship to build community


The 2018 Festival of Glass includes the launch of the Festival’s Mentorship Programme for aspiring glass artists.

The Mentorship Programme is a fresh feature of the Festival of Glass and is aimed at local Year 11 Visual Arts students who are considering careers as glass artists.

There will be two recipients of a Mentorship each year. Each one will receive 5 two-hour sessions of personal tuition by their Mentor over six months. Mentors will be established, professional glass artists, who will be paid for their participation in the programme.

The Mentorship Programme will introduce recipients to a range of ideas, techniques and processes used in glass work. It will also assist recipients to:
·      exhibit and sell their work and to compete for Awards – starting with the Glass Art Awards at the 2019 Festival of Glass
·      build a professional resumé, starting by participating in the 2018 Festival of Glass and promoting the 2019 Mentorship programme at school assemblies
·      contribute to community connectedness and citizenship by building a network of shared interests and mutual respect with other recipients and with other artists.
 
A bigger picture?
"Welcome to Drysdale" mural
The Mentorship programme will help the Festival of Glass to promote a sense of community and cultural identity on the Bellarine Peninsula. It will increase glass art’s profile in the area, encourage local aspiring glass artists to embed their work in their community and encourage that community to celebrate its young people’s talents.

The Festival of Glass committee is also grateful to the individuals and organisations without whose support the Mentorship would not exist:
·      Mark Eliott
·      Peter Minson
·      Beaders Guild of Geelong Inc.
·      OPSM Waurn Ponds
·      The Rotary Club of Drysdale.

Each of these individuals and organisations supports the Mentorship Programme’s aim to share skills, broaden experiences and build community; and the Festival committee values their encouragement and support.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Mark Eliott
"Essence of Cloud" Mark Eliott
The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Mark Eliott for his sponsorship of the Festival’s 2018 Mentorship Programme. In 2015, Mark was the Festival’s first Artist in Residence and in 2016 he returned and worked together with Peter Minson as our first joint Artists in Residence.

Mark is a contemporary artist working in glass, stop-motion animation and music. He teaches flame-work and has exhibited internationally and has a strong interest in environmental issues.

Mark’s work has a number of themes. One is mythology and story telling; another is  sculptural abstraction informed by, as he puts it, “the dance between improvisation and structure”. A third theme is representing organisms in glass – an interest he shares with the Festival’s 2018 Artist in Residence, Mauro Vianello. Mark also collaborates with Jack McGrath to create “Flame-ation” works that combine stop-motion photography of flame-worked glass with digital compositing.

Contacts:


Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Peter Minson
"Ship in a Bottle" Peter Minson
The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Peter Minson for his sponsorship of the Festival’s 2018 Mentorship Programme. In 2016, Peter joined Mark Eliott as the Festival’s first joint Artists in Residence.

Peter is the third generation of his family to work with glass and has done so for more than forty years. Initially, he managed the family business making scientific glassware; then he established his own creative glass business, which he combines with importing and retailing glass from Italy and equipment and tools direct from elsewhere.

Peter established a lampwork glass studio in Binalong, near Canberra, 20 years ago and has taught lampworking at the Canberra School of Art, RMIT University Melbourne and Sydney School of Art. He has exhibited extensively and his work is on display permanently in many glass art collections.

Contacts:
Tel. (02) 6227 4312    Mob. 0427 265 034
 

Thanks to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

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Blog (you’re here!): http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

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