Exhibition of Contemporary Glass at The Stained Glass Museum
Stevens Architectural Glass Artist Competition 2018
Press Release
7 June – 19 July 2018
An exhibition of contemporary stained glass panels at The Stained Glass Museum, 7 June – 19 July 2018, will showcase the work of emerging stained glass artists. The panels were all designed and made as competition entries for the 2018 Stevens Architectural Glass Competition, which is organised annually by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass’. Entry to the exhibition is free.
This year’s competition was for the design of two windows for a new dance studio at Eastbourne College in East Sussex. The new dance studio is being built as part of ‘Project 150’, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the College. The competition for the design of two architectural glass windows was sponsored by the ‘Arnold Embellishers’, a voluntary society whose purpose is to beautify and embellish the College. This year, the competition was open to international student glass artists and designers and all those who have commenced their vocation in glass within the last eight years. Past Stevens Competition winners have gone on to international acclaim, and in recent years the competition has attracted several sponsors who have commissioned work of their choice from among the prize-winning entries.
All entrants were asked to submit a coloured design of the overall scheme for the two windows, together with an artistic description, technical statement, and budget estimate, and to make a full sample panel showing a section of the overall design. Artists submitted under a nom de plume, to ensure anonymity. Competition entries were assessed by a distinguished panel of practising craftsmen and the winners were announced at a Prizegiving ceremony at Glaziers Hall on 24 May 2018. Several of the sample glass panels made for the competition by artists from across the UK and Europe feature in this exhibition on display at The Stained Glass Museum, home to a national collection of stained glass windows from across Britain and Europe.
The panels respond directly to the context for which they have been designed, drawing on themes of the body, rhythm, movement, harmony, creativity, training and education. This unique exhibition sheds light on the process of commissioning architectural glass, and highlights contemporary approaches to stained glass design as well as recent glass techniques, such as sandblasting and water-jet cutting. These works provide both a link to and a contrast with many of the historic stained glass exhibits to be seen in the museum’s permanent gallery, demonstrating the future of stained glass and the exciting potential of these emerging artists.
