Glass festival brings sparkle to Stourbridge (From Stourbridge News)

Glass festival brings sparkle to Stourbridge

4:00pm Wednesday 29th August 2012 in News

STOURBRIDGE sparkled over the Bank Holiday weekend when the town's Glass Quarter played host to the now world famous International Festival of Glass.

Thousands of visitors flocked to see the many events, exhibitions and activities laid on throughout the festival at venues including the Ruskin Glass Centre at Amblecote, Wordsley's Red House Glass Cone, Broadfield House Glass Museum in Kingswinford and Audnam's Dial Glassworks.

Among the highlights at this year's event - celebrating 400 years of glassmaking in Stourbridge - was the British Glass Biennale - the UK's biggest exhibition of contemporary glass.

The display, at the newly unveiled Glasshouse Arts Centre at Amblecote, features 100 striking pieces by 71 top UK glass artists including Black Country based Robyn Smith and Allister Malcolm.

A host of workshops, lectures, masterclasses, demonstrations, have-a-go sessions, family activities, heritage walks and a glass themed fashion show also dazzled visitors to the four-day event - which is held in Stourbridge every two years.

Festival director Natasha George said the weekend had been an “enormous success”.

She added: “We have welcomed visitors from across the country, around the world and from 'down the road' to the Stourbridge Glass Quarter.

"The quality of exhibitions, events and activities has been outstanding and the artists, the festival team and all the volunteers have worked incredibly hard to make this our best glass festival yet."

A number of the exhibitions will continue to run over the coming weeks and months.

The Contemporary Glass Society's Medallions exhibition, inspired by the London 2012 Games, runs at Amblecote's Ruskin Glass Centre until September 15.

The British Glass Biennale also runs at the Wollaston Road glass centre until September 15.

Gallery 90 in the Store, celebrating 90 years of association between artists and Plowden & Thompson/Tudor Cystal, runs at Audnam's Dial Glassworks until September 23.

The 21st Century Engraved Glass exhibition featuring the Number Ten Collection, offering a rare peek into the Prime Minister's drinks cabinet, runs at Wordsley's Red House Glass Cone until Sunday October 7.

While Broadfield House's Back to the Future exhibition, comprising contemporary pieces by West Midlands artists inspired by the borough's glass collection, runs at the Compton Drive museum until January 27.

Check out www.biennale.org.uk, www.ifg.uk or www.dudley.gov.uk/museums for more details and opening times.