Presenters & Biographies

Presenters

We continue to add to the line-up of speakers, panelists, workshop teachers, and studio tour hosts on the program. We have started and continue to collect biography information. Please be sure to check back often for updates. Current participants who have committed to join us are:

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Presenter Biographies

Ray Ahlgren, one of the original founders of Bullseye Glass Co., today operates Fire Art, a fabrication studio in Portland, Oregon that executes leading edge architectural and fine art works in kilnformed glass for numerous architects, designers and artists. A recognized authority in the field, Ahlgren regularly consults on projects initiated by other glass professionals.

Kristin Calhoun is a Public Art Manager for Regional Arts and Culture Council, a non-profit arts agency providing stewardship of public investment in arts and culture through advocacy, development, grants, public arts programs, information and artist education. In her work at RACC, she manages Percent for Art projects, private public art contracts, in situ PORTLAND (temporary outdoor installations), and the Portable Works Collection.

Taryn Coles, originally from Atlanta, Georgia received her BFA from the University of Montana and completed her formal education with a MA in Museum Studies from the University of Washington. Now the Annual Giving/Special Events Manager of the world renowned Pilchuck Glass School, Washington, she spearheads the Pilchuck Annual Auction and other events responsible for raising over 30 percent of the school's annual budget.

Christy Corbett works for Bullseye Glass in the Research and Education department, where she has been sharing her knowledge of kilnformed glass since 1999. After receiving a B.A. in English and History from the University of Oregon, she studied silversmithing and woodworking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Her glass experience has been an ongoing duet between creating and educating. She currently operates a glass studio in Portland where she divides her time between the kiln and the torch to create dinnerware, lighting, and jewelry.

Susan Emmons, is a Portland-based artist and architect specializing in interior projects, furnishing design and art. She describes her work as "the exploration of the choreography of space using, color, light, glass, and textiles." Susan graduated from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1984. Before founding her own studio, she worked as an architect in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London. She has taught architecture and design at Harvard, UCLA, University of Oregon and Portland State University.

Mel George, with partner Jeremy Lepisto, owns and operates Studio Ramp where, in addition to making their individual artwork, they fabricate designs in kiln-glass for other artists and architects. A graduate of Australia's prestigious Canberra School of Art glass workshop, George completed a residency at the Bullseye glass factory while still an undergraduate, later returning to work in the company's Research & Education department on projects with notable international glass masters. She and Lepisto will teach in the Pilchuck 2005 summer session.

Rudi Gritsch heads the kiln-glass department at the Glasfachschule in Kramsach, Austria. Gritsch served as Director of Bullseye's Research & Development Department from 1992-93, in an era when many of the company's most innovative research and artist projects were initiated. He has worked in glass for over 27 years producing architectural and gallery artworks that are exhibited internationally. He regularly teaches in the Corning Museum of Glass Studio program. His 2002 video in the museum's Master Class series is a well-deserved best seller.

James Harrison makes large strange things for a living, and some of them involve glass. He is fascinated by how things are built, and he likes to think of himself as 'the mad builder' even though he's quite reasonable. With Bullseye he has made a cast glass chandelier, two glass light beacons, and a glass room at a swell tavern.

John S. Hohenshelt is the President of Paragon Industries, L.P. Paragon has manufactured electric kilns for over 55 years and glass kilns for over 20 years. John has extensive knowledge of kiln engineering and design for hot glass applications. Although his formal education has little to do with glass it includes a B.A. Mathematical Economics, M.A. Political Science, and Juris Doctor, all from Tulane University.

Chad Holliday owns and operates third-hand glass cutting and polishing in Seattle, WA. He distributes and promotes glass equipment from the Czech Republic. In addition, Holliday is Martin Blank's cold sculptor. Previously he has worked as glass technician at Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle, lead hot shop technician for the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, and adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma. Chad's artwork has been published by New Glass Review and he is currently represented by the Elizabeth Collection in New York.

Paul Housberg currently lives and works in Jamestown, Rhode Island. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and master of Fine Arts degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he has also served as an instructor. Early in his career, Housberg studied painting, but was drawn to glass for its atmospheric color. After his graduate work, he studied in England with Patrick Reyntiens, a pioneer in contemporary stained glass and the author of an international standard work on the technique. Later, as a Fulbright Scholar, Housberg worked at the International Center for Glass Research (CIRVA) in Marseilles, France. Paul Housberg is noted for his inventive applications of glassworking technologies in architectural settings. Central to his work are the tactile qualities of glass and the expression of its materiality. On the web at www.glassproject.com.

Frantisek Janák studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague with professor Stanislav Libensky, and at the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenicky Senov, where he is currently the head professor in the cut glass department. He maintains his own practice as a glass designer and artist, exhibits around the world, and has won numerous international awards.

Jim Jones graduated from the University of Oregon in 1988 and worked for one year as a valet, parking cars for a downtown hotel. After wrecking too many cars he decided to leave before he was asked to and he found a job as a staff accountant at a little art glass company. After a year in the accounting department he moved out to manage shipping and work with the quality control department. He was later moved in to manage the sales department and was asked to park a few cases of glass into artists' studios. Over the past 16 years he has had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of kilnforming artists from all over the world. He has given presentations and demonstrations throughout the years on a variety of kilnforming techniques and topics.

Dan Klein is the former international director of 20th century decorative arts at Christie's auction house in London. A collector, curator, and writer specializing in contemporary glass, Klein has, in addition to his commercial work, served as auctioneer for Pilchuck, Penland and Mint Museum fund-raisers.

Steve Klein specializes in kilnformed and blown artwork created in his Orange, California studio. A retrospective exhibition "From Chaos to Balance" at the Museum of Northwest Art and acquisition by New York's Museum of Arts and Design highlighted Klein's career in Fall 2004. Long associated with the Pilchuck Glass School, he will lead a course in their 2006 summer session in addition to his other teaching and exhibition commitments. His work is represented in galleries across the US. In Portland it may be seen at The Bullseye Gallery.

Marty Kremer has been working with art glass for over 25 years in New York state. He is experienced in stained glass and blowing, but is known best for his kiln-formed work. He has won Niche awards for fused glass twice, in 2002 and 2003. He was also awarded First Prize in the American Craft Council show in Baltimore in 2002. His work is represented in galleries throughout the US and online at Guild.com.

Richard La Londe has worked in fused glass since 1980 and was one of the original instructors for Bullseye Glass Company. His artwork is included in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Notojima Glass Art Museum in Japan. He has completed 12 public fused glass mural commissions including the International Arrivals Gateway for the SeaTac Airport in Seattle. His gallery exhibitions include 15 solo shows. He teaches workshops internationally while continuing to create public and private commissions. Learn more at: http://www.richardlalonde.com/.

Jeremy Lepisto co-owns and operates Portland's Studio Ramp with partner Mel George. A graduate of Alfred University with a B.F.A. in glass and metal, Lepisto has been a visiting artist and glass instructor in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His work is exhibited in galleries internationally including William Traver in Seattle and the Bullseye Connection in Portland.

Silvia Levenson, Argentine-born artist, now living in Italy, calls glass "a beautiful and treacherous material." Her 2004 installation It's Raining Knives was created as the Corning Museum of Glass 2004 Rakow Commission. The dramatic cloud of 50 kiln-cast glass knives floating mysteriously over a miniature neighborhood is representative of the edgy works that this daring - and often humorous - artist exhibits in galleries and museums internationally. Watch for her upcoming solo exhibition at the Bullseye Gallery in September 2005 or check out her work and international appearances at: http://www.silvialevenson.com/.

Alicia Lomné creates seemingly delicate, sometimes whimsical pâte de verre vessel forms of remarkable strength and resilience - not unlike herself. Born in Corsica, Lomné has traveled extensively and draws on the subtle links between people and places in creating her artwork that is shown in galleries and art fairs nationally. In the Pacific Northwest her work may be seen at William Traver Gallery in Seattle and the Bullseye Gallery in Portland. She also teaches short-courses from Bullseye to Penland.

Jessica Loughlin has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the younger generation of contemporary studio glass. In the short time since graduating from the Canberra School of Art, she has garnered the UrbanGlass award for "Outstanding New Talent in Glass", had her work acquired by museums on three continents and led an influential series of workshops from Scotland to New York to her native Australia. In the US her work is shown at New York's Heller Gallery and on the West Coast in the Bullseye Gallery.

Dana Lynn Louis is a Portland-based artist who is steadily producing public and private architectural commissions in kilnformed glass and mixed media. Her architectural projects this year-so far-are a 30 x 90 foot glass curtain wall for The Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Tacoma, WA, a four-story multimedia installation at Portland's City Hall, and she is currently working on a 9 x 14 foot glass mixed-media wall for the Northgate Library in Seattle.

Lani McGregor is Executive Director of the Bullseye Connection. Supported by an able staff who provide her a protective screen of competency, she oversees the company's Gallery and R & E programs. Prior to joining Bullseye Glass Co. in 1984, she operated a 3-person (in good times) studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico that specialized in kilnformed and flat architectural glass. With partner Dan Schwoerer and two dictatorial cats she shares a home that doubles as a private museum and laboratory for the study of architectural kilnformed glass. She will also share half of the GAS Lifetime Membership Award with Schwoerer this year.

Klaus Moje is acknowledged to be the father of the contemporary kiln-glass movement. His early work in the field was a primary influence in Bullseye's development of Tested Compatible glass. As founder of the world-renowned glass workshop at the Canberra School of Art of the Australian National University he has both taught and inspired many of Australia's finest young talents in the field. With works in dozens of museums internationally, recent recognition as one of Australia's Living Treasures with a related tour, monograph and exhibition, and an upcoming solo show at New York's Museum of Arts and Design, Moje's career and influence is simply without parallel in our medium.

Catharine Newell received her BA in Fine Art from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2000, she took a workshop at Pilchuck Glass School from Narcissus Quagliata that transformed the direction and form of her work in glass. She exhibits her work at galleries around the world, including the Bullseye Gallery. To view her work and read her Artist Statement go to: http://www.bullseyeconnectiongallery.com/

Mary Kay Nitchie graduated from Reed College and the Pacific Northwest College of Art with two undergraduate degrees, one in liberal arts and one in studio arts. After a few years as an aspiring printmaker, she came to Bullseye Glass Co. in 1991, first to serve as receptionist, then as a sales representative and now as marketing manager. The nature of her work in these positions has allowed her to observe the trajectories of the careers of numerous artists in kiln-glass.

Tina Oldknow has been the curator of Modern Glass for The Corning Museum of Glass since 2000. Previously she held curatorial and advisory positions at several museums on the West Coast, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Henry Gallery at the University of Washington, and the Seattle Art Museum. She is the author of numerous publications, including Pilchuck: A Glass School, Richard Marquis Objects, and Dante Marioni Blown Glass. Oldknow served as editor of the Glass Art Society Journal from 1996 to 2001, is active on numerous boards and art councils and lectures extensively in the art world.

Martha Pfanschmidt teaches printmaking at Marylhurst and Portland State universities while also operating the group print workshop Atelier Mars with Tom Prochaska. Introduced to glass through a two-week Artist Factory Exchange Project at Bullseye Glass in 2003, Pfanschmidt has since gone on to make commissioned works in glass for private clients and to participate in another Artist Factory Exchange Project called Printmakers Fired. Both projects resulted in exhibitions at The Bullseye Gallery. Her background in monoprint and encaustic has facilitated her explorations in transparency and layering of glass. In 2004 she was one of five jurors for Bullseye's e-merge competition/exhibition. Her website is: www.pfanschmidt.com.

Richard Potestio is principal of Potestio Architecture, a four-person firm based in Portland, doing work in Oregon, California, and Washington. His work includes residential, restaurants, galleries, interpretive centers, schools, and multifamily housing. Designs are contemporary, focused on expression of space, light, and material.
He likes to engage all artisans in the fabrication of custom pieces. Collaborations include light fixtures and cast glass installations at Paley's Place Restaurant by George Batho, and light sculptures at River Place Hotel by Jeremy Lepisto. A large collaborative effort was created for a private residence of avid glass collectors where glass was used for screens, railings, handrails, flooring tiles, and a front door that was fabricated to support a cast-glass sculpture by artist Bill Carlson.

Tom Prochaska is an Assistant Professor of Printmaking at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Since 1996 he has collaborated with the Research & Education Department at Bullseye Glass Co. to develop new methods of working with frits, powders, threads and sheet glass that, in partnership with Ted Sawyer, evolved into a working method and short-course titled "The Glass Sketch". Prochaska was recently awarded a Hauberg Fellowship and in May 2005 will explore the translation of his three-dimensional papier-mache figures into kiln-cast glass during a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School. In Portland his glassworks may be seen at the Bullseye Gallery and his paintings and print work at Froelick Gallery.

Greg Rawls works as the Occupational Health and Safety Manager for Alcoa Primary Metals. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist/Certified Safety Professional with over 20 years experience in field of industrial safety and health. With over 10 years experience working with kiln-glass, Greg is uniquely qualified to make sensible recommendations regarding safe practices in the kiln glass studio.

Ted Sawyer is the Director of Research and Education department at Bullseye Glass company, where he has been working since 1997. The seven person R&E team tests materials and equipment, helps develop and refine processes during Artist Factory Exchange Projects, and disseminates the resulting information internally and externally through publication, workshops, and lectures. Ted teaches workshops, lectures to a wide range of audiences, and exhibits his work internationally including the Bullseye Gallery.

Daniel Schwoerer is founder and President of Bullseye Glass Co. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with twin degrees in art and engineering, he was assistant to Professor Harvey Littleton whom he credits with his appreciation for the fine art of business. Schwoerer co-authored the original Glass Fusing Book One with ex-partner Boyce Lundstrom, and has continued to write technical articles in the field of kiln-glass. A past board member of GAS, he will receive the organization's Lifetime Membership Award this year.

Toni Sikes drives the vision and strategy as CEO and founder of GUILD.COM. Her commitment to helping artists market and sell their work has made GUILD the leading U.S. retailer of original art. Identifying a need for artists to reach new audiences, she founded the GUILD publishing company in 1985 as a way to connect artists with architects and interior designers. Recognized as the industry standard, GUILD Sourcebooks have spurred thousands of new art commissions around the world. In 1998, Sikes launched GUILD.com, an e-commerce and catalog company to market the work of artists to consumers. Today GUILD presents the work of over 1000 artists through its award-winning website and direct-to-consumer catalogs. Sikes received a BS in Mathematics from the University of Alabama and and MS in market research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She frequently lectures on marketing the arts, and has authored several books.

Wendy Turner has a Masters Degree in Architecture and a Bachelors Degree in Urban Planning and Administration. She has worked with a variety of artists, educators, and students as part of the Bullseye Research and Education Department and was the project manager for Betweenness, a collaboration between design and industry.

Richard Whiteley is the Head of the Glass Workshop at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University. Whiteley lectured previously at Sydney College of the Arts and holds an undergraduate degree from CSA and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. In recent years he also served as an instructor at North Lands Creative Glass in Scotland and at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. His works in kiln-cast and coldworked glass can be seen locally at the Bullseye Gallery.

Mark Zirpel's exhibition "Celestial/Terrestrial" was among the most heavily attended gallery shows in Portland in 2004/2005. Press reviews like "Even if you hate glass, you'll love this show" are evidence of this artist's ability to take the material beyond its obvious attractions. With an MFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, Zirpel caught the glass bug at Pilchuck, where he has been the print studio coordinator for over a decade. Represented in Portland at the Bullseye Gallery, Zirpel's work print and glasswork is shown nationally. He has taught in University and short-course programs from Alaska to Scotland.

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