THIS year’s International Festival of Glass got off to a glittering start on Thursday evening with more than 700 invited guests arriving at Stourbridge’s Ruskin Glass Centre for the prestigious private view and awards ceremony of the British Glass Biennale.
The exhibition is the highlight of the festival and this year 128 glass works by 103 artists are on display.
More than £17k worth of awards were announced on the night.
The British Glass Biennale Award for Best in Show was awarded to Karen Browning for her piece Miss, Spent Youth – a cast glass piece which captures the impact of a gunshot.
The British Glass Biennale Awards are held in association with the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London, who select their Arts & Crafts Award winners from the exhibition.
Winner of the Arts & Crafts Award is Nina Casson McGarva for her piece Yellow Lichen.
The Glass Sellers were so impressed with the work on display, that this year they awarded two runner-up prizes. Layne Rowe was selected for his piece Ornithology and Jon Lewis for Moon Rock.
The Glass Sellers’ Student Award winner was Stephen Chadwick for his piece The Drowning of Handcraft, with Giles Fearon selected as runner-up for Furo. Other winners on the night were Sogon Kim for Interstellar and Juliet Forrest for Gorgonian Paradise, both winners of the Glass Society Best Newcomer Awards. Rachel Elliott won the Glass Society Uniting the Planet award for her piece Maelstrom.
Seattle-based Glass Art Society, selected Anthony Amoako Attah as the winner of their International Artists Award for his piece Stole.
The International Bead Biennale was launched as a sister exhibition, with the inaugural prizes going to Stéphane Olivier for Coral, with Astrid Riedel selected as runner-up for My View. The awards were sponsored by Barbara Beadman, master of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers.
The festival gates are now open across the Stourbridge Glass Quarter and into Wolverhampton for a packed programme of performances, exhibitions, lectures and workshops running until August 29.
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