Phillip Murray Bandura, a third-generation Calgarian, earned his BFA in glass from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2005. He co-founded Bee Kingdom Glass, which achieved success and accolades such as the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award and Avenues Top 40 Under 40. His work has been shown internationally, including in the USA, South Korea, Germany, and Greece. Phillip was also a founding member of Berlin Glas e.V., Berlin’s first glass-blowing studio. In 2020, he earned an MFA in Craft with a specialization in glass from the Alberta University of the Arts.

Lothar Böttcher is an internationally recognised artist based in Pretoria, South Africa. His works are represented in private and museum collections worldwide, including the Corning Museum of Glass (USA), Glasmuseum Frauenau (Germany), and the Pretoria Art Museum (South Africa).

Böttcher is an active curator and instigator, strengthening the glass art community and growing appreciation for the medium. Through ongoing projects like “Blow Your Sculpture”, he has introduced the magic of glass to other artists, expanding the boundaries and possibilities of the material. He is also a founding member and coordinator of the Lathe Riders, an international coldworking collective.

As the Executive Director of Chihuly Garden and Glass, Michelle Bufano brings more than twenty-five years of experience working in arts leadership positions including Pratt Fine Arts Center, Museum of Glass, and the Tacoma Art Museum. In 2019, Bufano and family purchased Gallery Mack in Seattle. The Gallery, a 50-year resident of the city, represents Pacific Northwest artists. Bufano acts in a curator capacity for the Gallery. Throughout her career, she has supported artists at every stage of their artistic journey by assuming board positions on local and national arts organizations, curating exhibitions showcasing emerging artists, and advocating for access to the arts.

Janine Christley worked for Ruskin Mill Trust for over 30 years; a nonprofit providing education and care for young people with learning disabilities, for the last twelve years as Director of Fundraising. Christley is also the Founder and Director of the International Festival of Glass, the major event for contemporary glass in the UK. In October 2024 this event will be taken over by GAS and Christley is joining the board to ensure a smooth successful handover and a positive relationship with British glass artists and organisations.

Through 25 years of working in glassblowing, Benjamin Cobb has honed his mastery of glass, traveled across the globe, and worked with hundreds of artists. An east-coast transplant, Cobb holds a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has been a demonstrating artist at glass studios as far afield as Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy, and France. He’s taught at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, and many other glass programs in the US. He’s a recognizable leader and voice in the glass community and has contributed to the success of countless works of art. In his own work, Cobb draws inspiration from the natural world, as well as the scientific process. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Glass and the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, WA, and dozens of galleries across the country. Benjamin joined the Glass Art Society Board of Directors in October 2019.

James Devereux has been working in glass since the age of 15 when he discovered a natural talent for the craft, and he has been working in glass ever since. Specialising in hot glass, his skills cover solid forms as well as blown pieces, and an extensive knowledge of glass techniques means he is always primed for new challenges. In 2008, Devereux opened his first studio in the inspiring Wiltshire countryside, and a year later he was pulled back to London as the glass technician at the Royal College of Art, a role that opened up vast new contacts and opportunities which are still at the core of his career today.

Kate Dowd is the Director of Education at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, NY. Having worked at renowned studios and nurtured young talent through teaching and assisting at various institutions, including the Toledo Museum of Art, Pilchuck Glass School, GlassRoots and UrbanGlass, Kate is a strong advocate for arts education and for creative expression in all its manifestations. At GlassRoots, as a teaching artist and Assistant Program Director, she initiated ongoing, transformative glassmaking programs for youth and the Newark community at large. Employing her expertise in beadmaking, glassblowing, and kilnforming, Kate’s own work explores ideas of the artist-viewer relationship. Her artistic inspiration extends to community and public projects, reflecting her commitment to art education and community enrichment.

Percy Echols II is a Pittsburgh-based Artist, Alchemist, and Educator who pioneers the development of Neon and Plasma Light Art at the Pittsburgh Glass Center and is the creator and host of the Podcast Taming Lightning. He began working in glass in 2011 when he took his first Glassblowing Class at Illinois State University, although his interest in plasma began in 2014 at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA. Here he was introduced to the medium of plasma light sculpture through furnace glassblowing in a class taught by Patrick Collentine and gained a friend and mentor. He continued working in plasma while pursuing his BFA in Studio Glass at Illinois State University. After graduating he moved to Pittsburgh in 2016 for a year-long apprenticeship at the Pittsburgh Glass Center which quickly became his new home. Here he was gifted with an opportunity to make use of donated neon equipment and a growing network of artists, where he studied, built, and developed studio equipment and programming. This allowed him to not only make his artwork, but to allow PGC to provide workshops, classes, and private lessons, as well as allow for commissions, services, and collaborations for Plasma and Neon. In 2019 he joined the Plasma Art Alliance Board and was nominated for a leadership role in 2020, to further its mission to promote illuminated plasma in glass as a sculptural art medium as it aligns with his own goals through Taming Lightning. Percy currently pursues the goal of formalizing methods and knowledge he has put into practice for plasma and sharing them with the greater community of interested artists, makers, and engineers and encouraging accessibility through public art institutions.

Annabelle Javier is the Chief Operating Officer of Paul Wissmach Glass Company. Annabelle and her spouse, Jason, are the third family to run this 120-year old colored sheet glass manufacturer based in Paden City, West Virginia. When she’s not running the business, she is actively involved in the Pittsburgh glass art community and is a board member of the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Her background is in chemical engineering and she hopes to develop some unique glass colors in the near future.

Dr. Kayla Natividad is an Architectural Technical Service Engineer for flat glass manufacturer Pilkington North America. A Texas native, she received her PhD in civil engineering with a focus on structures and research in glass design from Texas Tech University. Since moving to “the Glass City” Toledo, OH, Kayla’s work has been directed towards the advocacy of glass technology and the development of industry standards, best practices, and technical education. She is an active contributor and holds leadership positions in a number of architectural glass trade associations and standards committees.

On the rugged Oregon coast, Julia Rogers‘ art experience began with her father, an Argentine artist, who taught her how to think beyond the norm. Her work spans sculpture, installation and performance. She found molten glass in a production studio in 2001 in Florence, Montana and never looked back. Rogers has an MFA in glass and sculpture from Bowling Green State University. Living in an ever-changing world that operates systematically despite the sense of disarray, Rogers’ work raises the awareness of the interconnectedness of all life and the delicate balance between humankind’s interference and enhancement. Julia loves sharing her passion for glassmaking with others and has taught at the university level since 2011.

Danielle Ruttenberg is a skilled glassblower, innovative entrepreneur, and dedicated mother of two young children. After graduating from Abington High School in 2001 and earning her degree from Tyler School of Art in 2006, she launched DR Glass Design, a custom glass art and fabrication business, which she successfully operated from 2007 to 2015. In early 2016, following the birth of her first child, Danielle co-founded Remark Glass, a fully sustainable, zero-waste custom glass studio located in the revitalized Bok Building in South Philadelphia. Remark Glass embodies the fusion of art and sustainability by utilizing traditional glassblowing techniques to transform discarded bottle glass into small-batch home accessories. Furthering her commitment to environmental impact and community development, Danielle and her team established Bottle Underground in 2020, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing waste reduction efforts and creating local employment opportunities.

Dr. Sunny Wang is one of the leading glass artists in Asia. She uses the unique material qualities of glass in contemporary art practices to explore diverse themes including Buddhist philosophy, Chinese calligraphy and the human relationship with the natural environment. Solo and group exhibitions of Sunny Wang’s work have been presented internationally including Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Italy, France, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, America and her native Taiwan.Dr. Sunny Wang founded the Glass Studio at the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University in 2007 and has served as an Associate Professor at the Academy since 2020.

Martha Zackin is a Boston lawyer, concentrating in the representation of management in all aspects of labor and employment law, including litigation, collective bargaining, and counseling.  With more than 30 years of experience, Martha advises and represents clients on a broad range of employment law issues and in adversarial proceedings.  In her role as an advisor to employers, boards of directors, and executives, she regularly provides practical advice and counsel on a wide range of employment-related issues, including employee relations and policy matters; employee classification and wage and hour laws; violations of noncompetition, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements; employee training; employment and separation agreements; affirmative action; mergers and acquisitions; and internal investigations. Martha has represented clients before administrative and governmental agencies, courts, arbitrators, and mediators. When she’s not lawyering, Martha spends her time with her dogs on Casco Bay in Maine or in the hot shop, taking classes or renting blow slots at NOCA Glass School.  NOCA, located just outside of Boston in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, is housed within Almost Perfect Glass (APG), home to a fantastic array of glass artists, sculptors, jewelers, and a few dogs. 

Zach Abella is a Citizen Potawatomi glass artist residing in Carbondale, Illinois studying at Southern Illinois University. He began working in glass at the age of 12 with the Hilltop Artists program in Tacoma, Washington. He finds inspiration for his work in Potawatomi cultural tradition and Coastal Salish traditions he grew up with in the Pacific Northwest. The current goal of his work is to learn traditional teachings and stories and interpret them through a 21st-century lens, using both traditional and new mediums and techniques. With the help and guidance of other native glass artists, he has been able to increase accessibility for native individuals in glass, and further push glass art as a medium used in native expression.

Wandering around the world with her ability of perfect pitch and quadrilingual skill, Jocelyn Chan creates installation and performance artworks using the language of sound and music. Born in 1998 and raised in Hong Kong, surrounded by the rich history of neon lights, Jocelyn was initially drawn to glass through the process of neon bending at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She found a passion in glassblowing in their hotshop, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass and Printmaking. After graduation, Jocelyn worked at AO Glass in Burlington, Vermont and Chrysler Museum Glass Studio in Norfolk, Virginia. She continues to create challenging works and explore different opportunities when traveling around the world. Jocelyn is currently advancing her studies in glass at Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Toyama, Japan.